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Sylvia's Lovers
Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell The novel begins in the 1790s in the coastal town of Monkshaven (modeled on Whitby, England) against the background of the practice of impressment during the early phases of the Napoleonic Wars. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.
496 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1863
188 people are currently reading
9730 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Gaskell
1,073 books3,639 followersElizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature.
AKA:
Елізабет Гаскелл (Ukrainian)
AKA:
Елізабет Гаскелл (Ukrainian)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 297 reviews
February 25, 2014
In spite of the racy title, this book has no sex in it whatever. It was written in a simpler age, when Lovers meant people who loved someone. So, if you're looking for salacious writing, you've come to the wrong place.
I've recently found an interest in Elizabeth Gaskell when I saw the mini-series Wives and Daughters (I bought the DVDs). Since then I've read a few more of her novels: Wives and Daughters, North and South, and now Sylvia's Lovers. I love the way this author looks into the hearts of her characters. There are no villains, just people who struggle to find happiness. Sometimes in the process, they might injure others, but it is rarely malicious. Some of her characters are truely saintly in their efforts to do the right thing. You go away feeling as if you know every character better than you know yourself. Elizabeth Gaskell has amazing human insight.
This story is not a romance. It is a redemption tale, beginning with establishing relationships and dynamics between characters, it progresses through tragedy and unexpected character development, to the end when moral courage triumphs over romance.
I've recently found an interest in Elizabeth Gaskell when I saw the mini-series Wives and Daughters (I bought the DVDs). Since then I've read a few more of her novels: Wives and Daughters, North and South, and now Sylvia's Lovers. I love the way this author looks into the hearts of her characters. There are no villains, just people who struggle to find happiness. Sometimes in the process, they might injure others, but it is rarely malicious. Some of her characters are truely saintly in their efforts to do the right thing. You go away feeling as if you know every character better than you know yourself. Elizabeth Gaskell has amazing human insight.
This story is not a romance. It is a redemption tale, beginning with establishing relationships and dynamics between characters, it progresses through tragedy and unexpected character development, to the end when moral courage triumphs over romance.
March 29, 2017
This took me a little while to get into, but ultimately I loved it. The book is so dramatic and beautifully written, especially from the second half onwards, and the ending is so, so powerful. I love Elizabeth Gaskell's writing, and even if the dialect was a bar for me at first, I strongly recommend sticking with it. A brilliant novel.
July 9, 2020
Fascinating tale about God and Love by a very Fine authoress who felt to dedicate her novel (1863) to her dear husband, specifically with her own words “this book is dedicated to my dear husband by her who best knows his value”.
This killed me, that is to say softly, and, guess what? It (again) led me into the fire of temptation! Poor sinful me! But, for a complete confession: I have sinned so far only with Gaskell – not before! God forbid! This is my second chance to be and get redeemed – but, alas! If only I knew I am so full of human weakness, which is to say I am not, haha ;))
Truly, sometimes just few lines of text can mark one for good, at least for some long time to make it different in the case of the respective person. I knew I wanted to read more of her works – after ‘North and South’ made me get my flight into the heaven of earth, so to say it is also here, on ground, not just to be found flying up on the white fluffy clouds… I wanted to read more about love, of course! Why not! So, what links best with love? Why, surely: Lovers! What can sound better or more irresistible than Lovers in the title of a book? And it is not just one (lover), but a plural word. Wonderful to have found this book – Sylvia’s Lovers! Though, despite my awaken sentiments and feelings, reason wise I think it is an exaggeration of a life tale, well but then again in prose fiction that is allowed too, isn’t it?
So I took the grand slalom and put my finger on the last page - it was not clear what happened in the story, so I moved backwards like a crab, something started to glitter and I got some pieces of the puzzle put together, but it was not a sunny bright warm sunshine ray, it was just a filmy gloomy mist, ahh, no! This is an ill-fated tale. I got so sorry, even before starting to read the first page chronologically wise, that is to say, I have suffered for each and every page I have read from the start to the end of it.
Fine! I had to pay for my sin, just make it even: you cheat, then you give something back, isn’t it?…So, what to do now but just embrace myself tightly and dive deep into the unknown wild wide ocean of this complicated history. And it was indeed a perilous adventure, as it is always for me having in mind that I still didn’t learn swimming, though I love the sea “with its ceaseless waves lapping against the shelving shore” so greatly, same like its immensity, and, oddly enough, this acts like a leitmotiv in the novel too, from start to end: the sea and its unfathomable depth is the landscape for this story of regrets and hopes, more or less vain, except those wishes that lay profoundly hidden in the soul, awaiting the awakening and fulfilment beyond the dim horizon, or better said, behind the veil of the sea…
There are some very touching chapters of the novel, too melodramatic, which made me think on the Indian drama movies (well, those that I’ve seen in my early youth with my parents rolling out in the cinema). I couldn’t stop my mind winding and rewinding some couple of songs that seemed latent in my memory archive, no special reason to have them circulated within my ears or even by chance to get on them, one saying “Love hurts” by Nazareth (lyrics copy-paste at the end of the review) and the other “Love of my life” (of course, sung by no one else than Queen, Freddie Mercury)…
Anyhow, there are only two lovers of Sylvia’s, I thought they are more, but curiously enough, they are yet just two. Well, good that they are! Sometimes they don’t exist at all!
To tell the truth, on one side, the background of the story, in a sense its historical setting, put me a bit in difficulty because of my ignorance. I was introduced in the plot of the story somewhere in the very far away year of 1793 till beginning of 1800, in the area of north-eastern English coast. There was a war, violence and riots – people are killed or kidnapped by press-gangs to fill the “men-to-war” ships – between some British, French, Turks, other nations somewhere in Jerusalem…, famine, starvation, hard living conditions in the small coastal towns in the northern part of England, complex and difficult as always human relations, with emphasis on human passions – love and jealousy – and the difficulty of learning the lesson and power of forgiveness, the conscience-stricken impact of a lie in spoiling a human life, etc, etc, eventually, it is a bigger story about the life of sailors, shopkeepers, and peasants.
That seemed to be a very particular epoch and I was sadly impressed by the system (well, why not, we can call it as such) of impressment in the British navy, and the doings (actually, wrong-doings) of the press-gang activities along the coasts, the hardships it inflicted, the indignation it aroused, the consequences in the local families. I had to learn more about the history of this “system”, so I googled Wikipedia, and some light was shed on the darkness of my ignorance. Now I feel much, but much better!
On the other side, I was greatly interested in the tale of Sylvia’s life and her surrounding relatives, that is to say, I was touched deeply by the tale of the unvarnished joys and sorrows of a few simple folks.
Now, having them as a closed story, I feel my sympathy goes to the two main characters – Sylvia and Philip - in equal quantity, although during the story-telling flow I have had my partisanship inclination. They were not perfect – far from it – but they strived to be themselves according to their own interpretation and understanding. So sad to love, as per individual pattern of love, and to feel and know that love is not returned. Yeah, this is most difficult to comprehend. Better not try to, just skip this stage. Best is to enjoy the feel of love and move further, and let free, release rapidly the outburst of agonized and unrequited love. More to come, if only it is invited, that is to say, Love is always shyly knocking at the door, if only we don’t shut it with heavy locks and keys…
≪ “Oh, Sylvie, let me help yo'! I cannot do what God can,—I'm not meaning that, but I can do next to Him of any man. I have loved yo' for years an' years, in a way it's terrible to think on, if my love can do nought now to comfort yo' in your sore distress.” ≫
≪ “With God all things are possible,' said she, repeating the words as though to lull her anxiety to rest. Yes; with God all things are possible. But ofttimes He does his work with awful instruments. There is a peacemaker whose name is Death.” ≫
I am glad this fine, lengthy book somehow fell to my lot, its charm attracted me from backwards (final scene) to beginning (for your information, or as a warning, it’s better not to proceed like this, it spoilts the moods…) and then gradually took hold of me with overpowering force, in spite of the difficult dialect (that actually increased my white hair with a dozen of threads..), and I venture to call it a favourite now. It is one of the saddest stories I ever read. It wasted me a full pack of tissues last night, which reminds me that sometimes it’s good to over-stock (one never knows when some extra tissue is sadly needed). It feels as a sort of balm to my conscience that I have read it, and my heart is being now almost too full for words…
“Love hurts”
Love scars
Love wounds and marks
Any heart not tough or strong enough
To take a lot of pain, take a lot of pain
Love is like a cloud, it holds a lot of rain
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
I'm young
I know
But even so
I know a thing or two, I learned from you
I really learned a lot, really learned a lot
Love is like a flame, it burns you when it's hot
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Some fools think
Of happiness, blissfulness, togetherness
Some fools fool themselves, I guess
They're not foolin' me
I know it isn't true I know it isn't true
Love is just a lie made to make you blue
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Ooh love hurts
I know it isn't true
I know it isn't true
Love is just a lie made to make you blue
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Ooh, love hurts, ooh
“Love of my life”
Love of my life, you've hurt me
You've broken my heart and now you leave me
Love of my life, can't you see?
Bring it back, bring it back
Don't take it away from me, because you don't know
What it means to me
Love of my life, don't leave me
You've stolen my love, you now desert me
Love of my life, can't you see?
Bring it back, bring it back
Don't take it away from me, because you don't know
What it means to me
You will remember
When this is blown over
Everything's all by the way
When I grow older
I will be there…
This killed me, that is to say softly, and, guess what? It (again) led me into the fire of temptation! Poor sinful me! But, for a complete confession: I have sinned so far only with Gaskell – not before! God forbid! This is my second chance to be and get redeemed – but, alas! If only I knew I am so full of human weakness, which is to say I am not, haha ;))
Truly, sometimes just few lines of text can mark one for good, at least for some long time to make it different in the case of the respective person. I knew I wanted to read more of her works – after ‘North and South’ made me get my flight into the heaven of earth, so to say it is also here, on ground, not just to be found flying up on the white fluffy clouds… I wanted to read more about love, of course! Why not! So, what links best with love? Why, surely: Lovers! What can sound better or more irresistible than Lovers in the title of a book? And it is not just one (lover), but a plural word. Wonderful to have found this book – Sylvia’s Lovers! Though, despite my awaken sentiments and feelings, reason wise I think it is an exaggeration of a life tale, well but then again in prose fiction that is allowed too, isn’t it?
So I took the grand slalom and put my finger on the last page - it was not clear what happened in the story, so I moved backwards like a crab, something started to glitter and I got some pieces of the puzzle put together, but it was not a sunny bright warm sunshine ray, it was just a filmy gloomy mist, ahh, no! This is an ill-fated tale. I got so sorry, even before starting to read the first page chronologically wise, that is to say, I have suffered for each and every page I have read from the start to the end of it.
Fine! I had to pay for my sin, just make it even: you cheat, then you give something back, isn’t it?…So, what to do now but just embrace myself tightly and dive deep into the unknown wild wide ocean of this complicated history. And it was indeed a perilous adventure, as it is always for me having in mind that I still didn’t learn swimming, though I love the sea “with its ceaseless waves lapping against the shelving shore” so greatly, same like its immensity, and, oddly enough, this acts like a leitmotiv in the novel too, from start to end: the sea and its unfathomable depth is the landscape for this story of regrets and hopes, more or less vain, except those wishes that lay profoundly hidden in the soul, awaiting the awakening and fulfilment beyond the dim horizon, or better said, behind the veil of the sea…
There are some very touching chapters of the novel, too melodramatic, which made me think on the Indian drama movies (well, those that I’ve seen in my early youth with my parents rolling out in the cinema). I couldn’t stop my mind winding and rewinding some couple of songs that seemed latent in my memory archive, no special reason to have them circulated within my ears or even by chance to get on them, one saying “Love hurts” by Nazareth (lyrics copy-paste at the end of the review) and the other “Love of my life” (of course, sung by no one else than Queen, Freddie Mercury)…
Anyhow, there are only two lovers of Sylvia’s, I thought they are more, but curiously enough, they are yet just two. Well, good that they are! Sometimes they don’t exist at all!
To tell the truth, on one side, the background of the story, in a sense its historical setting, put me a bit in difficulty because of my ignorance. I was introduced in the plot of the story somewhere in the very far away year of 1793 till beginning of 1800, in the area of north-eastern English coast. There was a war, violence and riots – people are killed or kidnapped by press-gangs to fill the “men-to-war” ships – between some British, French, Turks, other nations somewhere in Jerusalem…, famine, starvation, hard living conditions in the small coastal towns in the northern part of England, complex and difficult as always human relations, with emphasis on human passions – love and jealousy – and the difficulty of learning the lesson and power of forgiveness, the conscience-stricken impact of a lie in spoiling a human life, etc, etc, eventually, it is a bigger story about the life of sailors, shopkeepers, and peasants.
That seemed to be a very particular epoch and I was sadly impressed by the system (well, why not, we can call it as such) of impressment in the British navy, and the doings (actually, wrong-doings) of the press-gang activities along the coasts, the hardships it inflicted, the indignation it aroused, the consequences in the local families. I had to learn more about the history of this “system”, so I googled Wikipedia, and some light was shed on the darkness of my ignorance. Now I feel much, but much better!
On the other side, I was greatly interested in the tale of Sylvia’s life and her surrounding relatives, that is to say, I was touched deeply by the tale of the unvarnished joys and sorrows of a few simple folks.
Now, having them as a closed story, I feel my sympathy goes to the two main characters – Sylvia and Philip - in equal quantity, although during the story-telling flow I have had my partisanship inclination. They were not perfect – far from it – but they strived to be themselves according to their own interpretation and understanding. So sad to love, as per individual pattern of love, and to feel and know that love is not returned. Yeah, this is most difficult to comprehend. Better not try to, just skip this stage. Best is to enjoy the feel of love and move further, and let free, release rapidly the outburst of agonized and unrequited love. More to come, if only it is invited, that is to say, Love is always shyly knocking at the door, if only we don’t shut it with heavy locks and keys…
≪ “Oh, Sylvie, let me help yo'! I cannot do what God can,—I'm not meaning that, but I can do next to Him of any man. I have loved yo' for years an' years, in a way it's terrible to think on, if my love can do nought now to comfort yo' in your sore distress.” ≫
≪ “With God all things are possible,' said she, repeating the words as though to lull her anxiety to rest. Yes; with God all things are possible. But ofttimes He does his work with awful instruments. There is a peacemaker whose name is Death.” ≫
I am glad this fine, lengthy book somehow fell to my lot, its charm attracted me from backwards (final scene) to beginning (for your information, or as a warning, it’s better not to proceed like this, it spoilts the moods…) and then gradually took hold of me with overpowering force, in spite of the difficult dialect (that actually increased my white hair with a dozen of threads..), and I venture to call it a favourite now. It is one of the saddest stories I ever read. It wasted me a full pack of tissues last night, which reminds me that sometimes it’s good to over-stock (one never knows when some extra tissue is sadly needed). It feels as a sort of balm to my conscience that I have read it, and my heart is being now almost too full for words…
“Love hurts”
Love scars
Love wounds and marks
Any heart not tough or strong enough
To take a lot of pain, take a lot of pain
Love is like a cloud, it holds a lot of rain
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
I'm young
I know
But even so
I know a thing or two, I learned from you
I really learned a lot, really learned a lot
Love is like a flame, it burns you when it's hot
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Some fools think
Of happiness, blissfulness, togetherness
Some fools fool themselves, I guess
They're not foolin' me
I know it isn't true I know it isn't true
Love is just a lie made to make you blue
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Ooh love hurts
I know it isn't true
I know it isn't true
Love is just a lie made to make you blue
Love hurts
Ooh love hurts
Ooh, love hurts, ooh
“Love of my life”
Love of my life, you've hurt me
You've broken my heart and now you leave me
Love of my life, can't you see?
Bring it back, bring it back
Don't take it away from me, because you don't know
What it means to me
Love of my life, don't leave me
You've stolen my love, you now desert me
Love of my life, can't you see?
Bring it back, bring it back
Don't take it away from me, because you don't know
What it means to me
You will remember
When this is blown over
Everything's all by the way
When I grow older
I will be there…
October 19, 2021
Año 1796. Inglaterra está inmersa en las cruentas guerras napoleónicas y, pese a su aislamiento en las lejanas tierras del norte, los habitantes de Monkshaven también sufren con el conflicto. Sus marineros, curtidos en la pesca de la ballena, no solo deben enfrentarse a los peligros propios de su profesión, sino al riesgo de ser alistados forzosamente entre las filas de la Marina británica, falta de efectivos. Monkshaven sufre enormemente bajo los efectos de esta injusticia, pero sus habitantes intentan llevar una vida normal entre las preocupaciones propias de la vida cotidiana.
‧
Las estaciones se suceden, los habitantes se entregan a sus quehaceres al compás del calendario agrícola, y Sylvia Robson, protagonista de la historia, descubre por primera vez lo que supone estar enamorada. El elegido no es su primo Philip, quien se desvive por ella y alberga la esperanza de convertirla en su esposa, sino Charles Kinraid, un apuesto y valeroso arponero que no tarda en conquistar el corazón de Sylvia.
Prometida con Kinraid, el triángulo amoroso parece tener los días contados, pero el destino interviene en el momento menos pensado. Bajo los ojos atentos de Philip, Kinraid es enrolado a la fuerza por el ejército...¿Tendrá Philip el valor de contarle lo ocurrido a Sylvia o aprovechará para actuar en su propio beneficio?
‧
Gaskell afirmó que esta había sido, con diferencia, su novela más triste y en lo que a mi respecta, la congoja todavía me invade cada vez que pienso en la historia. Os he avisado porque, pese a lo que el título pueda sugerir, "Los amores de Sylvia" es un relato triste, muy triste. No esperéis encontrar en él una bella historia de amor.
Con esta, su única novela histórica ambientada en el siglo XVIII, Gaskell demuestra una vez más su magistral capacidad para esbozar el fiel retrato de localizaciones, costumbres y gentes. Su narración tiene una fuerza descriptiva y una atmósfera propia que te envuelven desde el primer capítulo. ‧
Mientras uno está leyendo la novela piensa que no es extraño que Gaskell decidiese ambientar su historia en los inhóspitos acantilados de Monkshaven (inspirados por la población de Whitby, en Yorkshire). Todo en el libro tiene un carácter salvaje y nos traslada a un tiempo en que las pasiones y las fuerzas de los elementos se desataban violentamente.
Muy pocas veces el sol hace su aparición a lo largo de la historia. Esta es una narración velada por las brumas, la lluvia y el embravecido oleaje del mar del Norte. Mirad como describe Gaskell la situación del pequeño pueblo: "Los páramos salvajes y desolados circundaban Monkshaven por tierra con la misma eficacia con que lo hacían las aguas por mar". Así es como uno se siente al leer la novela, completamente aislado entre una naturaleza hostil que hace aflorar los peores instintos de las personas que la habitan.
Un ambiente trágico se instala desde los primeros compases de la novela, y poco a poco, va ganando en intensidad hasta llegar a unas escenas finales que te rompen el corazón. Creo que "Los amores de Sylvia" no es el título idóneo para acercarse a la obra de Gaskell por primera vez; pero si habéis disfrutado ya de títulos como "Cranford" o "Norte y Sur", no dudéis en embarcaros en esta historia, sin duda la obra más atmosférica de Gaskell y una lectura perfecta para esta época otoñal.
‧
Las estaciones se suceden, los habitantes se entregan a sus quehaceres al compás del calendario agrícola, y Sylvia Robson, protagonista de la historia, descubre por primera vez lo que supone estar enamorada. El elegido no es su primo Philip, quien se desvive por ella y alberga la esperanza de convertirla en su esposa, sino Charles Kinraid, un apuesto y valeroso arponero que no tarda en conquistar el corazón de Sylvia.
Prometida con Kinraid, el triángulo amoroso parece tener los días contados, pero el destino interviene en el momento menos pensado. Bajo los ojos atentos de Philip, Kinraid es enrolado a la fuerza por el ejército...¿Tendrá Philip el valor de contarle lo ocurrido a Sylvia o aprovechará para actuar en su propio beneficio?
‧
Gaskell afirmó que esta había sido, con diferencia, su novela más triste y en lo que a mi respecta, la congoja todavía me invade cada vez que pienso en la historia. Os he avisado porque, pese a lo que el título pueda sugerir, "Los amores de Sylvia" es un relato triste, muy triste. No esperéis encontrar en él una bella historia de amor.
Con esta, su única novela histórica ambientada en el siglo XVIII, Gaskell demuestra una vez más su magistral capacidad para esbozar el fiel retrato de localizaciones, costumbres y gentes. Su narración tiene una fuerza descriptiva y una atmósfera propia que te envuelven desde el primer capítulo. ‧
Mientras uno está leyendo la novela piensa que no es extraño que Gaskell decidiese ambientar su historia en los inhóspitos acantilados de Monkshaven (inspirados por la población de Whitby, en Yorkshire). Todo en el libro tiene un carácter salvaje y nos traslada a un tiempo en que las pasiones y las fuerzas de los elementos se desataban violentamente.
Muy pocas veces el sol hace su aparición a lo largo de la historia. Esta es una narración velada por las brumas, la lluvia y el embravecido oleaje del mar del Norte. Mirad como describe Gaskell la situación del pequeño pueblo: "Los páramos salvajes y desolados circundaban Monkshaven por tierra con la misma eficacia con que lo hacían las aguas por mar". Así es como uno se siente al leer la novela, completamente aislado entre una naturaleza hostil que hace aflorar los peores instintos de las personas que la habitan.
Un ambiente trágico se instala desde los primeros compases de la novela, y poco a poco, va ganando en intensidad hasta llegar a unas escenas finales que te rompen el corazón. Creo que "Los amores de Sylvia" no es el título idóneo para acercarse a la obra de Gaskell por primera vez; pero si habéis disfrutado ya de títulos como "Cranford" o "Norte y Sur", no dudéis en embarcaros en esta historia, sin duda la obra más atmosférica de Gaskell y una lectura perfecta para esta época otoñal.
March 18, 2016
This novel was such a find for me. I loved it from the outset, and it kept me with it almost all the way through. It seems extraordinary to me that this has generally been regarded as a minor work, and “one for the specialists.” For me, it was a potent and intelligent mid-Victorian novel, fully up to the level of the same author’s .
A couple of things I love about Elizabeth Gaskell: her willingness to engage properly (and not in a patronizing way) with working-class characters, and the brilliant way in which she forges connections between personal histories and larger political themes. Among the great nineteenth-century English female novelists, George Eliot seems to me her only equal in those regards. I was interested to read in the—rather weak—introduction to the Penguin Classics edition that Gaskell was reading in 1859, during the time of her initial visit to Whitby, in Yorkshire, where Sylvia’s Lovers is set.
Gaskell exploits the tough, feisty, cliff-hung Whitby superbly in the novel, drawing particularly on two aspects of the town’s history: its involvement in the whaling trade in Greenland until the early nineteenth century, and the role that smuggling played in its economy. Gaskell sets the novel in the 1790s, at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, which allows her to play off the anti-state agency of the smugglers against the state-sponsored violence of the press gangs raising manpower for the wars. This is handled very well and weaves its way right into the weft of the novel, in terms of both theme and plot.
The characterisation in Sylvia’s Lovers I found quite magnificent. Gaskell makes a bold stake with Sylvia in getting us to sympathise with the figure who is generally the less sympathetic of female characters in nineteenth-century novels—beautiful, vain, volatile, impulsive—relegating the watchful, intelligent Hester, whom we would normally be called on to identify with, to a minor role. I liked both of them very much, as also the paired male characters, repressed Philip and strutting Kinraid; and the rich range of minor figures, such as Sylvia’s parents and their loyal farmhand Kester, all of whom are beautifully drawn. Philip, in particular—who is, in many ways, the key figure in the novel—seems to me quite a remarkable portrait, but there is no one, even down to quite minor characters, who does not get his or her due.
There are some aspects of this novel that are not so great. It’s true, as critics have said, that it descends into melodrama to some extent in its last third, and it never quite recaptures the wonderful pacing of the first third. I suspect there are mitigating circumstances for this; I gather from the introduction to my edition that Gaskell was under pressure to finish the novel, and the ending was very probably rushed.
Who cares, though? It would be great to find a novel that worked all the way through, but how rarely does that happen? What we have here is a sharply characterised, interestingly structured, intellectually engaged novel, written by a great writer at the top of her game. Perhaps that will do!
A couple of things I love about Elizabeth Gaskell: her willingness to engage properly (and not in a patronizing way) with working-class characters, and the brilliant way in which she forges connections between personal histories and larger political themes. Among the great nineteenth-century English female novelists, George Eliot seems to me her only equal in those regards. I was interested to read in the—rather weak—introduction to the Penguin Classics edition that Gaskell was reading in 1859, during the time of her initial visit to Whitby, in Yorkshire, where Sylvia’s Lovers is set.
Gaskell exploits the tough, feisty, cliff-hung Whitby superbly in the novel, drawing particularly on two aspects of the town’s history: its involvement in the whaling trade in Greenland until the early nineteenth century, and the role that smuggling played in its economy. Gaskell sets the novel in the 1790s, at the time of the Napoleonic Wars, which allows her to play off the anti-state agency of the smugglers against the state-sponsored violence of the press gangs raising manpower for the wars. This is handled very well and weaves its way right into the weft of the novel, in terms of both theme and plot.
The characterisation in Sylvia’s Lovers I found quite magnificent. Gaskell makes a bold stake with Sylvia in getting us to sympathise with the figure who is generally the less sympathetic of female characters in nineteenth-century novels—beautiful, vain, volatile, impulsive—relegating the watchful, intelligent Hester, whom we would normally be called on to identify with, to a minor role. I liked both of them very much, as also the paired male characters, repressed Philip and strutting Kinraid; and the rich range of minor figures, such as Sylvia’s parents and their loyal farmhand Kester, all of whom are beautifully drawn. Philip, in particular—who is, in many ways, the key figure in the novel—seems to me quite a remarkable portrait, but there is no one, even down to quite minor characters, who does not get his or her due.
There are some aspects of this novel that are not so great. It’s true, as critics have said, that it descends into melodrama to some extent in its last third, and it never quite recaptures the wonderful pacing of the first third. I suspect there are mitigating circumstances for this; I gather from the introduction to my edition that Gaskell was under pressure to finish the novel, and the ending was very probably rushed.
Who cares, though? It would be great to find a novel that worked all the way through, but how rarely does that happen? What we have here is a sharply characterised, interestingly structured, intellectually engaged novel, written by a great writer at the top of her game. Perhaps that will do!
January 15, 2021
Sylvia es una joven con muy pocas dotes intelectuales pero de gran belleza y encanto, de ahí que dos hombres quieran hacerse con sus favores.
Parece una típica novela inglesa victoriana de tacita de té, pero tiene un trasfondo poco conocido, un secreto y un final inesperado en este tipo de novelas.
Viniendo de "la Gaskell" siempre recomendable.
Parece una típica novela inglesa victoriana de tacita de té, pero tiene un trasfondo poco conocido, un secreto y un final inesperado en este tipo de novelas.
Viniendo de "la Gaskell" siempre recomendable.
June 10, 2025
Another heart-wrenching epic from Elizabeth Gaskell, full of pathos and human frailty, bad decisions and wasted love. When we meet Sylvia Robson she is a merry young girl, full of spirit and lovely enough to catch the eye of any man who sees her. She is coveted by her cousin, Phillip Hepburn, but she soon has her heart set on the dashing specksioneer, Charley Kinraid.
From the beginning, one can almost feel the pall that is hanging over not only these three lives but the community in which they live. Press gangs roam the towns and villages, snatching up young men and forcing them into the service of His Majesty to fight the war with France. There is no peace, and angry citizens feel compelled to fight the practice in any way they can, which leaves normally compliant men outside the law.
There is nothing uncomplicated about Gaskell’s characters. They are real people, deeply affected by the times and one another. While Sylvia might seem rather simple at first, her experiences during the course of the novel strip her of her innocence and her simplicity. She battles with her fate and her feelings, and like so many of us, she makes angry or desperate decisions that she comes to rue.
Phillip Hepburn, perhaps the most central character of the book, is a study in how to go wrong. He idolizes Sylvia and makes her something more than a mere woman–always a dangerous thing. He is a moral man, who does a very immoral thing. He is an impulsive man, who acts too quickly sometimes and yet dawdles at others. He is far too often self-centered and motivated by only what he desires in life, without thought to others. He takes advantage of another’s weak moments. He also is doomed to regret himself.
There are several supporting characters who have pivotal places in this story. Sylvia’s father helps us to understand both Sylvia as a girl and how Sylvia finds herself in the predicament she comes to. Two others, Hester and Kester (ok, I want to ask Gaskell why she couldn’t choose non-rhyming names), move the action forward and provide another lens through which to view Sylvia and her lovers. All are excellent, full-bodied additions to the cast and serve as catalysts to both the plot and our understanding of it.
As she does in most of her novels, Gaskell sets some serious questions before the reader: What is our duty to others? Is a lie ever justified? At what point does withholding forgiveness hurt only us? I dare say we change during our reading as much as the characters change on the page. I staggered from outrage to despite to pity to reluctant understanding; the characters grappled with suffering, desire, forgiveness, guilt and misplaced love. I was richer at the end; they were sadder.
I have learned to respect and admire Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing and her willingness to address subjects that might have been controversial for her time. She can hold her own with all her more famous male counterparts. I have only one more novel to read, The Moorland Cottage, and I will be left with novellas and short stories and some poetry. Still a lot of good reading to come from Mrs. Gaskell, but I have no doubt I will be wanting to revisit some of my earlier reads.
As always, my thanks to the Dickensians group and the remarkable hosting of this read by Claudia, who added so much to my pleasure and understanding of this novel.
From the beginning, one can almost feel the pall that is hanging over not only these three lives but the community in which they live. Press gangs roam the towns and villages, snatching up young men and forcing them into the service of His Majesty to fight the war with France. There is no peace, and angry citizens feel compelled to fight the practice in any way they can, which leaves normally compliant men outside the law.
There is nothing uncomplicated about Gaskell’s characters. They are real people, deeply affected by the times and one another. While Sylvia might seem rather simple at first, her experiences during the course of the novel strip her of her innocence and her simplicity. She battles with her fate and her feelings, and like so many of us, she makes angry or desperate decisions that she comes to rue.
Phillip Hepburn, perhaps the most central character of the book, is a study in how to go wrong. He idolizes Sylvia and makes her something more than a mere woman–always a dangerous thing. He is a moral man, who does a very immoral thing. He is an impulsive man, who acts too quickly sometimes and yet dawdles at others. He is far too often self-centered and motivated by only what he desires in life, without thought to others. He takes advantage of another’s weak moments. He also is doomed to regret himself.
There are several supporting characters who have pivotal places in this story. Sylvia’s father helps us to understand both Sylvia as a girl and how Sylvia finds herself in the predicament she comes to. Two others, Hester and Kester (ok, I want to ask Gaskell why she couldn’t choose non-rhyming names), move the action forward and provide another lens through which to view Sylvia and her lovers. All are excellent, full-bodied additions to the cast and serve as catalysts to both the plot and our understanding of it.
As she does in most of her novels, Gaskell sets some serious questions before the reader: What is our duty to others? Is a lie ever justified? At what point does withholding forgiveness hurt only us? I dare say we change during our reading as much as the characters change on the page. I staggered from outrage to despite to pity to reluctant understanding; the characters grappled with suffering, desire, forgiveness, guilt and misplaced love. I was richer at the end; they were sadder.
I have learned to respect and admire Elizabeth Gaskell’s writing and her willingness to address subjects that might have been controversial for her time. She can hold her own with all her more famous male counterparts. I have only one more novel to read, The Moorland Cottage, and I will be left with novellas and short stories and some poetry. Still a lot of good reading to come from Mrs. Gaskell, but I have no doubt I will be wanting to revisit some of my earlier reads.
As always, my thanks to the Dickensians group and the remarkable hosting of this read by Claudia, who added so much to my pleasure and understanding of this novel.
June 10, 2025
"Sylvia's Lovers" is set in 1794 in the fictional Monkshaven, and is partly based on traditional stories from Whitby, a port on the Yorkshire coast. Whitby was known for its sailors who went on long expeditions for whales. Press gangs from the Crown also came to Whitby to kidnap experienced sailors for service in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars.
Sylvia Robson, the beautiful daughter of a farmer, is loved by Philip Hepburn, an educated merchant in town. When the heroic specksioneer, Charley Kinraid, comes to Whitby, Sylvia is enthralled with his adventurous whaling stories and falls in love with the handsome man. Sylvia has an adventurous spirit, but has to live a traditional life of an 18th Century woman. Both men are very competent in their occupations, and would be considered to be good prospects for a woman looking to marry. A love triangle sets the scene for the conflicts later in the book.
"Sylvia's Lovers" has themes of love, loss, betrayal, and redemption. All three of the main characters have strengths and flaws. Forgiveness and redemption (with religious overtones) are important in achieving peace of mind. The book also has a historic theme of individual liberty vs the need for the state for men to fight in wars.
The novel kept my interest to the end. I enjoyed its historical background, and interesting flawed characters. This is the third book by Elizabeth Gaskell that I have read, and she's becoming one of my favorite Victorian authors.
Sylvia Robson, the beautiful daughter of a farmer, is loved by Philip Hepburn, an educated merchant in town. When the heroic specksioneer, Charley Kinraid, comes to Whitby, Sylvia is enthralled with his adventurous whaling stories and falls in love with the handsome man. Sylvia has an adventurous spirit, but has to live a traditional life of an 18th Century woman. Both men are very competent in their occupations, and would be considered to be good prospects for a woman looking to marry. A love triangle sets the scene for the conflicts later in the book.
"Sylvia's Lovers" has themes of love, loss, betrayal, and redemption. All three of the main characters have strengths and flaws. Forgiveness and redemption (with religious overtones) are important in achieving peace of mind. The book also has a historic theme of individual liberty vs the need for the state for men to fight in wars.
The novel kept my interest to the end. I enjoyed its historical background, and interesting flawed characters. This is the third book by Elizabeth Gaskell that I have read, and she's becoming one of my favorite Victorian authors.
September 30, 2021
Available free at Librivox, here:
The Librivox version has unfortunately several narrators! They range from very good to terrible. Overall, the listening experience is thus choppy, disconnected and not enjoyable, despite that you can for the most part hear the words. The narration, as a whole, I have given two stars; it’s OK. There is a heavy use of patois, which is not always easy to comprehend, particularly when the narration is mumbled or indistinct. The multiple narrators do give the listener the opportunity to consider the extent to which a narrator influences one’s comprehension and appreciation of a book. Analyzing this I found rather interesting.
What do you do if you have enjoyed your way through a book but the conclusion takes a turn not to your liking? I was going to give the book four stars but reduced it to three. The change in tone and focus as the book approaches its end is not to my liking. It turns didactic, moral, religious. A lesson is to be learned and a message is to be conveyed. That the story itself is sad doesn’t bother me in the least. Elizabeth Gaskell declared this novel to be “the saddest story I ever wrote.”
The book describes life in England on the rugged northeastern coast of Yorkshire during the last decade of the 1700s. This was during the Napoleonic Wars—the French and the English saw each other as enemies. Smuggling and press gangs were an ingredient of daily life. Young men, the lifeblood of the community, predominantly sailors, whalers and harpooners, were being seized and forced into service to fight against the French. I very much like the description of Yorkshire life, of the town, the sea, the people and their way of life. All of this is intimately drawn through the story’s characters. Life on the coast is harsh but at the same time atmospherically drawn. The blend of realism and beauty fits me to a T.
The story has very good character portrayal. We see individuals diametrically opposed. I like the variety. We come to understand the different characters, both their innate character traits and how life experiences mold them.
Two men love Sylvia but each in their own very different way. Which is best? What is that spark of love? How do you describe the magic of it? Can love arise in response to another’s steadfast devotion? These are the questions the book circles around.
Good writing and good character portrayal are delivered here in this book. I like its accurate historical content. I don’t like the lesson it tries to teach us at the end. I believe in and value love’s natural spark.
As always, I separate my rating of the book from the audiobook narration.
***
* 4 stars
* 4 stars
* 4 stars
* 3 stars
* 3 stars
* 2 stars
* 2 stars
* 1 star
* TBR
The Librivox version has unfortunately several narrators! They range from very good to terrible. Overall, the listening experience is thus choppy, disconnected and not enjoyable, despite that you can for the most part hear the words. The narration, as a whole, I have given two stars; it’s OK. There is a heavy use of patois, which is not always easy to comprehend, particularly when the narration is mumbled or indistinct. The multiple narrators do give the listener the opportunity to consider the extent to which a narrator influences one’s comprehension and appreciation of a book. Analyzing this I found rather interesting.
What do you do if you have enjoyed your way through a book but the conclusion takes a turn not to your liking? I was going to give the book four stars but reduced it to three. The change in tone and focus as the book approaches its end is not to my liking. It turns didactic, moral, religious. A lesson is to be learned and a message is to be conveyed. That the story itself is sad doesn’t bother me in the least. Elizabeth Gaskell declared this novel to be “the saddest story I ever wrote.”
The book describes life in England on the rugged northeastern coast of Yorkshire during the last decade of the 1700s. This was during the Napoleonic Wars—the French and the English saw each other as enemies. Smuggling and press gangs were an ingredient of daily life. Young men, the lifeblood of the community, predominantly sailors, whalers and harpooners, were being seized and forced into service to fight against the French. I very much like the description of Yorkshire life, of the town, the sea, the people and their way of life. All of this is intimately drawn through the story’s characters. Life on the coast is harsh but at the same time atmospherically drawn. The blend of realism and beauty fits me to a T.
The story has very good character portrayal. We see individuals diametrically opposed. I like the variety. We come to understand the different characters, both their innate character traits and how life experiences mold them.
Two men love Sylvia but each in their own very different way. Which is best? What is that spark of love? How do you describe the magic of it? Can love arise in response to another’s steadfast devotion? These are the questions the book circles around.
Good writing and good character portrayal are delivered here in this book. I like its accurate historical content. I don’t like the lesson it tries to teach us at the end. I believe in and value love’s natural spark.
As always, I separate my rating of the book from the audiobook narration.
***
* 4 stars
* 4 stars
* 4 stars
* 3 stars
* 3 stars
* 2 stars
* 2 stars
* 1 star
* TBR
October 26, 2023
Sylvia's Lovers is my second Elizabeth Gaskell and although I must say I enjoyed North and South more than this, there is something that makes me sure that the book and the characters in it will haunt me for a while. Taking a place in seaside town of England in 1790s, this is a story about Sylvia Robson, who is caught between two very different but striking men. It is a powerful and sad book; it almost felt like reading a Greek tragedy taking a place in Victorian era. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and think that Gaskell is really skilled at building up interesting characters that both annoy and break your heart.
June 8, 2023
2.5 stars. I've enjoyed Elizabeth Gaskell before but just could get into any joy reading this. This was very much one of those classics I found a tad bit dusty at times and Phillip was an huge asshole. I'm glad I've read it but not something I think I'll rush to reread.
September 27, 2022
I am literally just wandering around the house processing my thoughts about this novel. And occasionally turning on and singing to an angst-filled Broadway song to help with the processing process. 😆
June 15, 2025
This is my 4th novel by Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell and the second that I have had the pleasure of reading along with the Dickensians group with Claudia as our group leader. I always find this slow progression of a chapter a day over several months to be so rewarding and the rich discussions add so much to my enjoyment. Gaskell is right up there with Jane Austen as one of the finest women writers of classics.
Gaskell wrote this novel over 3 years and has said that it was “the saddest story I ever wrote.” Her novels usually deal with political, historical and social topics that she would have had first hand experience or knowledge of as a woman living in the Victorian era in England. In Sylvia’s Lovers, she creates a fictional town of Monkshaven modeled after the real port town of Whitby and sets the story in the 1790’s. During this time, the British are at war with the French (isn’t that always the case!) The seaside town of Monkshaven is home to whaling ships that are gone for months and the people living here are much attuned to living lives where their men are gone for long periods. During this time of war, the men of the town live in fear of the “press gangs” who captured able-bodied sailors and forced them into service for the King’s Navy.
The novel begins with Sylvia Robson having gone to town from her family farm of Haytersbank where she witnesses the return of an anticipated whaling ship. The crowd is awaiting to reunite with their family members when a commotion occurs as the ship docks and is intercepted by a Navy ship. A sailor is killed and another is wounded. The wounded ‘specksioneer’, Charley Kinraid, demonstrates his courage by killing a couple of press gang members and Sylvia becomes enamored by the courage he shows. Sylvia cannot get this brave sailor’s exciting and charismatic efforts out of her mind, and she falls in love with him. Silly and immature Sylvia won’t forget his bravery.
Philip Hepburn is Sylvia’s cousin, a reliable and serious shop keeper who loves Sylvia. She treats him rudely when he tries to teach her to read. She does not feel the same as he does and yet Philip will not let Sylvia go. He wants her for his wife even though she doesn’t want him as a husband. His efforts to win Sylvia and the decisions he makes in this novel show just how tragic one’s and other’s lives can turn in a moment.
Tragedy after tragedy abound in this novel yet I enjoyed reading it, if that is possible. I felt for these characters and was impressed by the way Gaskell wrote such moving and emotional scenes. I was invested in these people and cared for what happened to them. Gaskell’s ability to portray the important historical elements of the time and place made my interest that much more invested. I look forward to the next book by Gaskell.
Gaskell wrote this novel over 3 years and has said that it was “the saddest story I ever wrote.” Her novels usually deal with political, historical and social topics that she would have had first hand experience or knowledge of as a woman living in the Victorian era in England. In Sylvia’s Lovers, she creates a fictional town of Monkshaven modeled after the real port town of Whitby and sets the story in the 1790’s. During this time, the British are at war with the French (isn’t that always the case!) The seaside town of Monkshaven is home to whaling ships that are gone for months and the people living here are much attuned to living lives where their men are gone for long periods. During this time of war, the men of the town live in fear of the “press gangs” who captured able-bodied sailors and forced them into service for the King’s Navy.
The novel begins with Sylvia Robson having gone to town from her family farm of Haytersbank where she witnesses the return of an anticipated whaling ship. The crowd is awaiting to reunite with their family members when a commotion occurs as the ship docks and is intercepted by a Navy ship. A sailor is killed and another is wounded. The wounded ‘specksioneer’, Charley Kinraid, demonstrates his courage by killing a couple of press gang members and Sylvia becomes enamored by the courage he shows. Sylvia cannot get this brave sailor’s exciting and charismatic efforts out of her mind, and she falls in love with him. Silly and immature Sylvia won’t forget his bravery.
Philip Hepburn is Sylvia’s cousin, a reliable and serious shop keeper who loves Sylvia. She treats him rudely when he tries to teach her to read. She does not feel the same as he does and yet Philip will not let Sylvia go. He wants her for his wife even though she doesn’t want him as a husband. His efforts to win Sylvia and the decisions he makes in this novel show just how tragic one’s and other’s lives can turn in a moment.
Tragedy after tragedy abound in this novel yet I enjoyed reading it, if that is possible. I felt for these characters and was impressed by the way Gaskell wrote such moving and emotional scenes. I was invested in these people and cared for what happened to them. Gaskell’s ability to portray the important historical elements of the time and place made my interest that much more invested. I look forward to the next book by Gaskell.
June 11, 2025
Another excellent experience reading with the Dickensians group. Many thanks to Claudia for leading the discussions and everyone for sharing thoughts.
October 4, 2016
“’[…] She doesn’t fancy thee, and fancy is three parts o’ love, if reason is t’other fourth.”
Ironically, these words, which Philip Hepburn uses to make his friend understand that he is pining for a woman he will never attain, apply to himself no less than to the person he directs them to. Even more ironically, he does not realize this because his love for his cousin Sylvia Robson is stronger than his common sense, and even stronger than his moral and religious principles.
Sylvia’s Lovers, one of Elizabeth Gaskell’s lesser known novels was written in 1863 but is actually set some 70 years earlier when England was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars and when press-gangs were a constant threat to sailors and also farmers living near the coast. Monkshaven – somewhere I read that the place was actually modelled on Whitby – is such a coastal town, its economy being mainly based on whaling and the homecoming whalers being more or less easy pickings for the press-gangs. The plot revolves around Sylvia Robson, a rather spoilt and wilful 17-year old girl, whose parents run a farm outside Monkshaven and are relatively well-off. Sylvia is the object of veneration to her cousin Philip Hepburn, her mother’s nephew, who works in a local shop, has splendid prospects as to his future in the business and embodies all the virtues of Quakerism because he grew up among Quakers. Sylvia, however, does not really care a lot about her cousin, whom she thinks a bore and a spoilsport. Instead she falls for Charles Kinraid, a specksioneer, i.e. a chief harpooner, and a dashing young sailor at that, who easily finds favour with Sylvia’s rough-and-ready father, who used to go to sea himself in his younger days. Philip, who still rather awkwardly courts his cousin, realizes more and more that there is little hope for him when one day he witnesses how his rival is waylaid and overwhelmed by a press-gang. Kinraid, on discovering his sweetheart’s cousin, asks Philip to tell Sylvia that she should wait for him. Philip, however, does not do this and keeps silence when one word from him could have dispersed all rumours of Charles Kinraid’s death by drowning. His reason for leaving everybody in the dark is, so he tells himself, not primarily the fact that now his major obstacle to Sylvia’s heart is happily out of the way, but what he heard other people say of Kinraid, namely that he is a womanizer with a fickle heart. It seems clear to Philip that he would not do his duty by Sylvia if he passed on Kinraid’s message to her, thus making her wait years and years for someone who might never come back and who might even have forgotten her. Circumstances further seem to favour Philip because not only does he rise to become one of the two shop-owners but his cousin’s family falls into great distress, and he stands by them, thus obtaining Sylvia’s gratefulness, and it is, I’m sorry to say, out of gratefulness and out of a wish to provide for her mother that Sylvia finally agrees to marry her cousin. One day, however, Charles Kinraid comes back to his old hometown – and the cry of a baby will play a great role in determining the fates of three people.
At times, the story is melodramatic, but most often Gaskell manages to give a detailed and colourful portrait of her characters: Sylvia might be very naïve and also spoilt, but can we really condemn her for preferring Kinraid to Hepburn? I must admit that during the first half of the book, the sensible, economic, learned Philip did not really warm my heart towards him, whereas I found myself strongly rooting for Kinraid, but my bias changed in the course of the novel when I realized that Philip was really serious about his cousin. His earnest motives and his conviction of his rival’s unworthiness might not give him the right to deceive his cousin and to deny her the chance to decide for herself, but still I found it possible to understand his motives better, and I felt sorry for him because whatever he did, it failed to make Sylvia happy. Gaskell also manages to draw very lifelike pictures of Sylvia’s parents so that I was actually very sorry when later on their misfortune took its course. Especially her mother came over as very realistic – in fact, she reminded me not a little of my grandmother – in her mixture of devotion to her family and her no-nonsense attitude.
What I sometimes found a little bit jarring was that Gaskell tends to shift between perspectives very immediately so that from one paragraph to another the reader suddenly sees the action through another character’s eye. To me this was sometimes confusing because Gaskell’s omniscient narrator tends to adopt the point of view of some of his characters, almost using them as focalizers, but the rather frequent and abrupt change of these focalizers always reminds the reader of the fact that there is, after all, an omniscient narrator hovering above it all. I also had the impression that the more we got towards the end of the novel the more hurried the author seemed; after all, very important events like are dealt with in very few strokes, which stands in contrast to the epic and opulent narrative style of most other parts of the novel. I found this a pity because I could have gone on reading Sylvia’s Lovers for quite another while without feeling bored.
Elizabeth Gaskell is reported to have said that this book was the saddest story she ever wrote. Now I must confess that Sylvia’s Lovers was the first Gaskell novel I ever read (so I don’t know if there are not sadder stories still), and that I found it quite sad, with touches of melodrama here and there, but especially successful in creating a microcosm with believable and, for all their faults, likeable characters. I really liked that even Sylvia spoke a regional dialect – you could bet a Dickens heroine wouldn’t have done that – and that she had her faults but still manages to arouse our pity and understanding. Philip’s tragedy seems even greater than Sylvia’s since, after all, he could have decided otherwise, while Sylvia’s decisions were largely manipulated by Philip – and this raises the question whether there is such a thing as a pia fraus, i.e. lying or keeping silent about the truth for the sake of some higher good. So it is not only a sad, but an incredibly rich story, and it definitely kindled my interest in Mrs. Gaskell and her works.
Ironically, these words, which Philip Hepburn uses to make his friend understand that he is pining for a woman he will never attain, apply to himself no less than to the person he directs them to. Even more ironically, he does not realize this because his love for his cousin Sylvia Robson is stronger than his common sense, and even stronger than his moral and religious principles.
Sylvia’s Lovers, one of Elizabeth Gaskell’s lesser known novels was written in 1863 but is actually set some 70 years earlier when England was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars and when press-gangs were a constant threat to sailors and also farmers living near the coast. Monkshaven – somewhere I read that the place was actually modelled on Whitby – is such a coastal town, its economy being mainly based on whaling and the homecoming whalers being more or less easy pickings for the press-gangs. The plot revolves around Sylvia Robson, a rather spoilt and wilful 17-year old girl, whose parents run a farm outside Monkshaven and are relatively well-off. Sylvia is the object of veneration to her cousin Philip Hepburn, her mother’s nephew, who works in a local shop, has splendid prospects as to his future in the business and embodies all the virtues of Quakerism because he grew up among Quakers. Sylvia, however, does not really care a lot about her cousin, whom she thinks a bore and a spoilsport. Instead she falls for Charles Kinraid, a specksioneer, i.e. a chief harpooner, and a dashing young sailor at that, who easily finds favour with Sylvia’s rough-and-ready father, who used to go to sea himself in his younger days. Philip, who still rather awkwardly courts his cousin, realizes more and more that there is little hope for him when one day he witnesses how his rival is waylaid and overwhelmed by a press-gang. Kinraid, on discovering his sweetheart’s cousin, asks Philip to tell Sylvia that she should wait for him. Philip, however, does not do this and keeps silence when one word from him could have dispersed all rumours of Charles Kinraid’s death by drowning. His reason for leaving everybody in the dark is, so he tells himself, not primarily the fact that now his major obstacle to Sylvia’s heart is happily out of the way, but what he heard other people say of Kinraid, namely that he is a womanizer with a fickle heart. It seems clear to Philip that he would not do his duty by Sylvia if he passed on Kinraid’s message to her, thus making her wait years and years for someone who might never come back and who might even have forgotten her. Circumstances further seem to favour Philip because not only does he rise to become one of the two shop-owners but his cousin’s family falls into great distress, and he stands by them, thus obtaining Sylvia’s gratefulness, and it is, I’m sorry to say, out of gratefulness and out of a wish to provide for her mother that Sylvia finally agrees to marry her cousin. One day, however, Charles Kinraid comes back to his old hometown – and the cry of a baby will play a great role in determining the fates of three people.
At times, the story is melodramatic, but most often Gaskell manages to give a detailed and colourful portrait of her characters: Sylvia might be very naïve and also spoilt, but can we really condemn her for preferring Kinraid to Hepburn? I must admit that during the first half of the book, the sensible, economic, learned Philip did not really warm my heart towards him, whereas I found myself strongly rooting for Kinraid, but my bias changed in the course of the novel when I realized that Philip was really serious about his cousin. His earnest motives and his conviction of his rival’s unworthiness might not give him the right to deceive his cousin and to deny her the chance to decide for herself, but still I found it possible to understand his motives better, and I felt sorry for him because whatever he did, it failed to make Sylvia happy. Gaskell also manages to draw very lifelike pictures of Sylvia’s parents so that I was actually very sorry when later on their misfortune took its course. Especially her mother came over as very realistic – in fact, she reminded me not a little of my grandmother – in her mixture of devotion to her family and her no-nonsense attitude.
What I sometimes found a little bit jarring was that Gaskell tends to shift between perspectives very immediately so that from one paragraph to another the reader suddenly sees the action through another character’s eye. To me this was sometimes confusing because Gaskell’s omniscient narrator tends to adopt the point of view of some of his characters, almost using them as focalizers, but the rather frequent and abrupt change of these focalizers always reminds the reader of the fact that there is, after all, an omniscient narrator hovering above it all. I also had the impression that the more we got towards the end of the novel the more hurried the author seemed; after all, very important events like are dealt with in very few strokes, which stands in contrast to the epic and opulent narrative style of most other parts of the novel. I found this a pity because I could have gone on reading Sylvia’s Lovers for quite another while without feeling bored.
Elizabeth Gaskell is reported to have said that this book was the saddest story she ever wrote. Now I must confess that Sylvia’s Lovers was the first Gaskell novel I ever read (so I don’t know if there are not sadder stories still), and that I found it quite sad, with touches of melodrama here and there, but especially successful in creating a microcosm with believable and, for all their faults, likeable characters. I really liked that even Sylvia spoke a regional dialect – you could bet a Dickens heroine wouldn’t have done that – and that she had her faults but still manages to arouse our pity and understanding. Philip’s tragedy seems even greater than Sylvia’s since, after all, he could have decided otherwise, while Sylvia’s decisions were largely manipulated by Philip – and this raises the question whether there is such a thing as a pia fraus, i.e. lying or keeping silent about the truth for the sake of some higher good. So it is not only a sad, but an incredibly rich story, and it definitely kindled my interest in Mrs. Gaskell and her works.
September 12, 2008
I am so excited that I have discovered Elizabeth Gaskell! I'm anxious to read all of her books - two down, four to go. I love the way Gaskell describes how a historic crises affects ordinary people. In "North and South", it is a strike within the textile industry. In "Sylvia's Lovers", it is the British military practice of impressment (referred to as "the press gangs") during the French wars with Napoleon.
I also love how Gaskell juxtaposes different characters to highlight various strengths and weaknesses. Philip Hepburn and Charley Kinraid both love Sylvia, but one is steady, conservative, and predictable whereas the other is passionate, visionary, and unreliable. It would be nice to create the perfect lover by combining the two of them, but there is no such thing as a perfect man; so I had fun trying to decide who would make the better choice.
Finally, I really enjoy Gaskill's themes of innocence, deceit, forgiveness, and redemption. Even though her characters lived long ago, I could still relate and participate in their joys, sorrows, and lessons about life.
I also love how Gaskell juxtaposes different characters to highlight various strengths and weaknesses. Philip Hepburn and Charley Kinraid both love Sylvia, but one is steady, conservative, and predictable whereas the other is passionate, visionary, and unreliable. It would be nice to create the perfect lover by combining the two of them, but there is no such thing as a perfect man; so I had fun trying to decide who would make the better choice.
Finally, I really enjoy Gaskill's themes of innocence, deceit, forgiveness, and redemption. Even though her characters lived long ago, I could still relate and participate in their joys, sorrows, and lessons about life.
October 3, 2023
Off to a (very) slow start & for a while I struggled quite a bit with the dialect which is used in almost all dialogues throughout the book, but in the end it was worth it.
April 3, 2016
From BBC Radio 4:
1/2: Sylvia Dobson's cousin, Philip, lives for her, he loves her totally but Sylvia is in love with seafaring whaler, Charlie Kinraid. Gaskell's last (completed) novel is set in Yorkshire. Set in the 1790's - the time of the Napoleonic wars. It takes place in Monkshaven (ie.Whitby). The Press Gangs were always lurking when the whale boats were returning from Greenland with their cargo. They intercepted the boats, seized the men and pressed them into service with the Royal Navy to fight the French.
2/2: Sylvia marries Philip, believing Charlie to be dead. But chaos descends when Charlie returns, and Sylvia discovers Philip has lied to her. Set in Yorkshire in the 1790's - the time of the Napoleonic wars, in Monkshaven (ie.Whitby), during the time of the Press Gangs, who intercepted the fishing boats, seized the men and pressed them into service with the Royal Navy to fight the French.
Elizabeth Gaskell ...... Barbara Flynn
Sylvia ...... Jodie Comer
Philip ...... Graeme Hawley
Charlie Kinraid ...... Chris Connel
Bell ...... Siobhan Finneran
Daniel ..... Paul CopleySylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
Dramatised by Ellen Dryden
Kester/Donkin ...... Jonathan Keeble
Molly ...... Nichola Burley
Mrs. Corney ....... Olwen May
Produced/directed by Pauline Harris.
Free download available at .
4* North and South
2* Mary Barton
4* Wives And Daughters
3* Cranford
4* Curious, If True: Strange Tales
2* Ruth
3* Right at Last
4* Sylvia's Lovers
TR My Lady Ludlow
TR The Life of Charlotte Brontë
1/2: Sylvia Dobson's cousin, Philip, lives for her, he loves her totally but Sylvia is in love with seafaring whaler, Charlie Kinraid. Gaskell's last (completed) novel is set in Yorkshire. Set in the 1790's - the time of the Napoleonic wars. It takes place in Monkshaven (ie.Whitby). The Press Gangs were always lurking when the whale boats were returning from Greenland with their cargo. They intercepted the boats, seized the men and pressed them into service with the Royal Navy to fight the French.
2/2: Sylvia marries Philip, believing Charlie to be dead. But chaos descends when Charlie returns, and Sylvia discovers Philip has lied to her. Set in Yorkshire in the 1790's - the time of the Napoleonic wars, in Monkshaven (ie.Whitby), during the time of the Press Gangs, who intercepted the fishing boats, seized the men and pressed them into service with the Royal Navy to fight the French.
Elizabeth Gaskell ...... Barbara Flynn
Sylvia ...... Jodie Comer
Philip ...... Graeme Hawley
Charlie Kinraid ...... Chris Connel
Bell ...... Siobhan Finneran
Daniel ..... Paul CopleySylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
Dramatised by Ellen Dryden
Kester/Donkin ...... Jonathan Keeble
Molly ...... Nichola Burley
Mrs. Corney ....... Olwen May
Produced/directed by Pauline Harris.
Free download available at .
4* North and South
2* Mary Barton
4* Wives And Daughters
3* Cranford
4* Curious, If True: Strange Tales
2* Ruth
3* Right at Last
4* Sylvia's Lovers
TR My Lady Ludlow
TR The Life of Charlotte Brontë
October 22, 2024
Why do you keep doing this to me, Elizabeth? Why???? 😭😭😭
January 7, 2025
First read January 6, 2025
The novel is set around 1796 during the Napoleonic Wars, where in England it was common experience for press-gangs to kidnap sailors or other townsmen to fight for the King. Gaskell introduces us to Sylvia, the only daughter of Bell and Daniel who live in a farm near to the town of Monkshaven, where many a whaling vessel is moored. Somewhat spoiled and willful, Sylvia is the darling of her cousin, Philip Hepburn, who is a conservative, staid young man with good prospects for his future career in business. Conversely, Philip simply annoys Sylvia who wishes for a more romantic beau and gets him in Charley Kinraid, a specksioneer newly home from sea. As the two become closer, Philip realizes his chance to win Sylvia's love is rapidly dwindling. When Kinraid is taken by a press-gang and pleads with Philip to tell Sylvia of his love and promise to return, having previously heard of Kinraid's fickleness with women, Philip decides to keep the message to himself and the consequences of his resolution reach farther than he could ever imagine ........
Oh my, so much melodrama and angst and unlikely meetings and improbable circumstances! But Gaskell does it so well! As I close the book, I feel like I've been living in Monkshaven for this past number of weeks and it's really difficult to leave. The detail Gaskell gives the reader, all tied up with exceptional writing skills, is sublime. Even the dialect added to the story, although it took a little bit to get used to it.
In the introduction to the novel, it says that from time to time Gaskell left off writing the story and at times her publisher would have to press her to finish. The story does occasionally have an unevenness to it and I suspect this fact would account for it. But all-in-all, a wonderful read! It is truly "the saddest story" Gaskell ever wrote!
The novel is set around 1796 during the Napoleonic Wars, where in England it was common experience for press-gangs to kidnap sailors or other townsmen to fight for the King. Gaskell introduces us to Sylvia, the only daughter of Bell and Daniel who live in a farm near to the town of Monkshaven, where many a whaling vessel is moored. Somewhat spoiled and willful, Sylvia is the darling of her cousin, Philip Hepburn, who is a conservative, staid young man with good prospects for his future career in business. Conversely, Philip simply annoys Sylvia who wishes for a more romantic beau and gets him in Charley Kinraid, a specksioneer newly home from sea. As the two become closer, Philip realizes his chance to win Sylvia's love is rapidly dwindling. When Kinraid is taken by a press-gang and pleads with Philip to tell Sylvia of his love and promise to return, having previously heard of Kinraid's fickleness with women, Philip decides to keep the message to himself and the consequences of his resolution reach farther than he could ever imagine ........
Oh my, so much melodrama and angst and unlikely meetings and improbable circumstances! But Gaskell does it so well! As I close the book, I feel like I've been living in Monkshaven for this past number of weeks and it's really difficult to leave. The detail Gaskell gives the reader, all tied up with exceptional writing skills, is sublime. Even the dialect added to the story, although it took a little bit to get used to it.
In the introduction to the novel, it says that from time to time Gaskell left off writing the story and at times her publisher would have to press her to finish. The story does occasionally have an unevenness to it and I suspect this fact would account for it. But all-in-all, a wonderful read! It is truly "the saddest story" Gaskell ever wrote!
May 25, 2016
Fuori della finestra, una pioggia fitta e leggera mi accompagna durante la lettura delle ultime pagine del romanzo. Una giornata brumosa e triste, un po’ atipica per il mese di maggio, che mi porta a pensare che forse la natura abbia scatenato i suoi elementi per adattare la giornata alla tensione emotiva che gli ultimi capitoli del romanzo gaskelliano trasmettono al lettore.
L’autrice inglese definì questo romanzo come “la storia più triste che abbia scritto” e, dopo aver voltato l’ultima pagina, aggiungerei sicuramente anche la più amara.
Gli innamorati di Sylvia è ambientato alla fine del diciottesimo secolo a Monkshaven, (in realtà Whitby) piccola cittadina affacciata sulla costa dello Yorkshire, separata dal resto dell’Inghilterra dal mare e dalla brughiera che si estende alle sue spalle.
Frutto di profonde ricerche sulla caccia alle balene, sulle bande di coscrizione e di un soggiorno di alcuni giorni nella cittadina di Whitby, Gli innamorati di Sylvia (pubblicato nel 1863) è uno degli ultimi romanzi scritti dalla Gaskell e racconta la storia della giovane Sylvia Robson e dei suoi due innamorati del titolo, ma anche di come la Storia con la S maiuscola possa influenzare e sconvolgere la vita della gente umile.
Il libro si apre con l’entrata in scena della giovane protagonista del romanzo, Sylvia Robson, che si reca al mercato per vendere i prodotti della fattoria dei genitori. Quando arriva in paese, quest’ultimo è tutto in fermento per il ritorno delle baleniere, dopo sei mesi di lontananza nei mari dell’Artico. Il clima festoso è però sconvolto dall’arrivo delle bande di coscrizione, formate da gruppi di soldati armati il cui compito era di catturare e rapire uomini per costringerli ad arruolarsi nella marina o nell’esercito, da cui le bande avrebbero poi riscosso una ricompensa, condannando i rapiti a partire per la guerra senza avere la possibilità di salutare, incontrare, spiegare e avvertire le famiglie. Gli sfortunati rapiti erano dati per dispersi e potevano passare degli anni, prima che potessero ritornare a casa, sempre se fossero riusciti a tornare.
L’equipaggio della prima baleniera avvistata si ribella alla banda, che teme gli abitanti di Monkshaven per la loro fama di popolo coriaceo e coraggioso, e durante la rivolta ci scappa un morto e numerosi feriti.
Sylvia è una giovane ragazza, allegra, bella e frivola che resta colpita da questo fatto e s’invaghisce perdutamente del ramponiere Charley Kinraid, l’eroe dell’accaduto, che, di ritorno dalla Groelandia, è rimasto ferito dopo essersi ostinatamente opposto alla cattura dell’equipaggio della nave dalla banda di coscrizione. La giovane Sylvia, però, è perdutamente amata dal serio e irreprensibile cugino Philip, che lei tratta con sprezzante freddezza.
L’amore tra Sylvia e Charley cresce e porta i due a fidanzarsi in segreto. Nel momento in cui Charley lascia la ragazza per andare ad imbarcarsi in una baleniera per una nuova stagione di caccia, è sorpreso sulla spiaggia da una banda di coscrizione che lo cattura e lo costringe ad arruolarsi. Unico testimone del fatto è Philip Hepburn, cui il ramponiere chiede di raccontare a Sylvia tutto ciò che ha visto e di assicurarle il suo immutato amore. Philip in cuor suo sa di non essere amato da Sylvia quanto la ama lui, e così accecato dalla gelosia e convinto della superficialità dell’uomo, decide di tacere, lasciando credere a tutti che Charley sia morto annegato. I mesi passano e le circostanze della vita avvicinano Sylvia a Phillip, ma la felicità conquistata con la menzogna non durerà a lungo e i nodi alla fine verranno al pettine…
È stato bello rincontrare dopo un bel po’ di tempo Elizabeth Gaskell, farsi prendere per mano ed essere trasportata dalla sua sublime penna all’interno di questo piacevole romanzo dove si sente il rumore del mare in sottofondo.
Più leggo i libri della Gaskell più mi convinco che ogni suo romanzo sia un mondo a sé, ognuno diverso dall’altro, ognuno bello e completo, ciascuno dei quali regala sempre qualcosa di diverso al lettore.
La scrittrice inglese con maestria riesce a raccontare in maniera appassionante e minuziosa uno spaccato storico inglese non molto conosciuto, la terribile usanza delle bande di coscrizione e la pratica della caccia alle balene.
L’ultimo decennio del diciottesimo secolo, infatti, è un periodo storico di grandi sconvolgimenti e anche in un paesino isolato e sperduto che vive della caccia alle balene, soffierà il vento della grande Storia.
Romanzo dalle atmosfere cupe e affascinanti, Gli innamorati di Sylvia è una storia intesa che coinvolge il lettore e gli regala emozioni forti, non sempre piacevoli.
La scrittura della Gaskell è sempre pregevole e limpida, ma la storia, dalla trama abbastanza semplice, non riesce ad ingranare e si trascina languidamente per poco più della metà del libro senza che nulla di sconvolgente o veramente interessante accada; nelle ultime duecento pagine, vi è un cambio di registro, la narrazione prende finalmente vigore e gli eventi si succedono uno dietro all’altro fino al tragico finale.
L’autrice inglese ritrae mirabilmente uno scenario affascinante in ogni suo dettaglio tanto da far immergere il lettore all’interno del libro, fargli sentire la brezza marina sferzargli il viso, il rumore delle onde che s’infrangono sulla scogliera assordargli le orecchie, passeggiare nella sterminata brughiera con i suoi colori e odori.
La trama, man mano che procede, abbandona il quadro storico per lasciare spazio alle vicende personali dei personaggi e soprattutto al dramma personale della protagonista.
Elizabeth Gaskell descrive bene i personaggi; ognuno ha le sue sfumature, nessuno dei personaggi da lei descritti è totalmente puro o innocente, o totalmente malvagio e terribile. Questa è una caratteristica della scrittrice che ho riscontrato anche in altri suoi libri.
In questo libro però alcuni personaggi sono effimeri, altri fuggevoli o affettati, altri poco accattivanti e un po’ antipatici ad iniziare dalla protagonista il cui nome dà il titolo al libro.
Fin dalla sua apparizione in scena Sylvia, mi ha suscitato parecchia antipatia e irritazione. L’immagine che il lettore ha di lei è di una ragazzina frivola, immatura, capricciosa, testarda, eccessivamente emotiva, volutamente ignorante, di carattere orgoglioso e ostinato. L’evolversi degli avvenimenti a lei infausti non producono la maturazione che ci aspetterebbe, infatti, il personaggio subisce un processo d’involuzione. La fanciulla garrula e spensierata lascia ben presto il posto, dopo il primo grande dolore che colpirà la sua vita, ad una donna passiva, accondiscendente e incurante di tutto, una sorta di marionetta in balia degli eventi e delle scelte altrui; nonostante tutto non perde i suoi difetti e non dimostra una maturità tale da avermi spinto a simpatizzare con lei nonostante le tragedie che la colpiscono. Ciò che mi ha dato più fastidio in lei è il suo comportamento nei confronti dei due uomini che concorrono a conquistare il suo cuore: con Charley (che reputo un po’ troppo frivolo) è tutta sognante e affascinata dai suoi racconti, con suo cugino Philip si comporta con freddezza a dir poco glaciale, in maniera odiosa e irritante.
Charley è uno dei personaggi più insipidi che abbia mai incontrato all’interno di un romanzo. Vanesio, donnaiolo, spavaldo e intrepido, possiedi modi brillanti e cortesi che affascinano le donne; dal punto di vista psicologico è descritto in maniera piatta, tanto da non incidere sul romanzo.
Ho trovato molto più interessante la figura di Philip Hepburn, che viene delineato in modo molti più interessante e approfondito tanto da far pensare che sia proprio lui il vero e proprio protagonista del romanzo; si scandagliano in profondità i suoi sentimenti, i suoi pensieri, i suoi stati d’animo e la sua vita. Philip non conquista al primo incontro: è un ragazzo rigido, tradizionalista, irreprensibile, introverso (tanto che non ama parlare di sé e dei sacrifici compiuti nel corso degli anni), pare essere privo di personalità. Elizabeth Gaskell però (è qui secondo me sta la sua bravura) pian piano esplora il suo animo e lo rende umano; ci racconta le sue aspirazioni, i suoi tormenti interiori, le sue paure, i suoi dubbi, i suoi compromessi con la propria coscienza, i suoi pensieri e le sue delusioni, riesce a dargli quello spessore che manca agli altri personaggi del romanzo, consentendo al lettore di conoscerlo, comprenderlo e apprezzare i suoi pregi e i suoi difetti.
Philip è colui a cui mi sono affezionata, per cui ho parteggiato, le cui sofferenze mi hanno stretto il cuore e alla fine commossa. È stato il solo che sia riuscito a trasmettermi qualcosa nonostante le sue azioni molto discutibili, le sue omissioni che pagherà caro e il suo amore incondizionato e a tratti abbastanza ossessivo per Sylvia, una donna intellettualmente e spiritualmente molto inferiore a lui.
Altra figura molto interessante e che mi è piaciuta tanto è Hester Rose, collega di Philip che lavora con lui nella bottega. Innamorata non corrisposta di Philip, è una donna straordinaria, ideale femminile di coerenza e di fedeltà a se stessi. Con la sua rassegnazione, il suo amore puro e non egoistico mi ha conquistata. Peccato sia una figura che la scrittrice inglese ha poco approfondito.
Il “personaggio”, però, predominante e maggiormente presente nel libro è il mare. La sua esistenza è quasi reale in ogni pagina; è una creatura quasi viva che accompagna con la sua presenza lo svolgersi della storia.
È nel mare che Sylvia trova la pace mentre lo contempla seduta sulla spiaggia, da cui fugge appena la vita borghese la soffoca; il mare metafora della vita umana, spesso tempestoso, con il suo mugghio profondo e incessante, elemento benevolo o malefico, foriero di prosperità o tragedie, che scandisce e influenza la vita degli abitanti di Monkshaven; luogo d’amore e di morte, dell’eterna lotta tra il bene e il male, luogo di redenzione o teatro d’imprese coraggiose.
In questo libro dall’accurata ricostruzione storica e dalle incantevoli descrizioni (che fanno sognare) dei paesaggi costieri, sono presenti molte delle caratteristiche e tematiche ricorrenti nei romanzi di Elizabeth Gaskell. Grazie ad uno stile molto scorrevole e coinvolgente, l’autrice ci racconta la storia degli ultimi, della gente comune, delle classi più povere grazie ad uno sfondo come sempre molto dettagliato.
Una delle tematiche che occupa un posto molto importante nello stile della Gaskell e che si può riscontrare in ogni suo romanzo, è l’aspetto religioso. L’autrice ha una moralità e un senso religioso molto forte e ciò influisce nella trama dei suoi romanzi. La religiosità in questo romanzo è intesa come un percorso lungo che inizia dal peccato, e attraverso il pentimento e l’espiazione, arriva finalmente alla salvezza. L’autrice inglese spesso infligge punizioni ai personaggi che sono migliori rispetto agli altri sia dal lato spirituale sia intellettuale (in questo caso Philip), costringendoli a pagare, talvolta, un prezzo troppo alto per il loro peccato.
Gli innamorati di Sylvia è un romanzo sospeso tra il respiro del mare e l’abbraccio della brughiera. Romanzo non solo storico dove piccole e grandi tragedie s’intrecciano per creare un affresco unico, ma anche un romanzo d’amore di cui sono descritte molte forme: l’amore possessivo, l’amore non corrisposto, l’amore ossessivo, l’amore assoluto ed esclusivo, l’amore corrisposto e infelice.
Un racconto sui sogni infranti, di promesse mancate, sull’impossibilità di saper perdonare che porta all’infelicità e al rimorso, sul peso delle parole dette, non dette, nascoste, rivelate, urlate, perché molto spesso le parole possono pesare più dei macigni e influenzare la vita delle persone come in questo libro.
[…] avrebbe portato fuori il lavoro a maglia per godersi la freschezza della lieve brezza marina, e scendendo una dopo l’altra le cenge affacciate sull’oceano azzurro, si sarebbe sistemata in quel cantuccio pericoloso che era sempre stato il suo rifugio da quando i genitori si erano stabiliti alla fattoria di Haytersbank. Da lì aveva spesso visto le navi lontane andare avanti e indietro, con una sorta di pigro piacere a osservare il loro moto tranquillo, ma senza alcuna preoccupazione a proposito di dove andassero, e di quali strani luoghi avrebbero attraversato prima di fare di nuovo rotta verso casa.
L’autrice inglese definì questo romanzo come “la storia più triste che abbia scritto” e, dopo aver voltato l’ultima pagina, aggiungerei sicuramente anche la più amara.
Gli innamorati di Sylvia è ambientato alla fine del diciottesimo secolo a Monkshaven, (in realtà Whitby) piccola cittadina affacciata sulla costa dello Yorkshire, separata dal resto dell’Inghilterra dal mare e dalla brughiera che si estende alle sue spalle.
Frutto di profonde ricerche sulla caccia alle balene, sulle bande di coscrizione e di un soggiorno di alcuni giorni nella cittadina di Whitby, Gli innamorati di Sylvia (pubblicato nel 1863) è uno degli ultimi romanzi scritti dalla Gaskell e racconta la storia della giovane Sylvia Robson e dei suoi due innamorati del titolo, ma anche di come la Storia con la S maiuscola possa influenzare e sconvolgere la vita della gente umile.
Il libro si apre con l’entrata in scena della giovane protagonista del romanzo, Sylvia Robson, che si reca al mercato per vendere i prodotti della fattoria dei genitori. Quando arriva in paese, quest’ultimo è tutto in fermento per il ritorno delle baleniere, dopo sei mesi di lontananza nei mari dell’Artico. Il clima festoso è però sconvolto dall’arrivo delle bande di coscrizione, formate da gruppi di soldati armati il cui compito era di catturare e rapire uomini per costringerli ad arruolarsi nella marina o nell’esercito, da cui le bande avrebbero poi riscosso una ricompensa, condannando i rapiti a partire per la guerra senza avere la possibilità di salutare, incontrare, spiegare e avvertire le famiglie. Gli sfortunati rapiti erano dati per dispersi e potevano passare degli anni, prima che potessero ritornare a casa, sempre se fossero riusciti a tornare.
L’equipaggio della prima baleniera avvistata si ribella alla banda, che teme gli abitanti di Monkshaven per la loro fama di popolo coriaceo e coraggioso, e durante la rivolta ci scappa un morto e numerosi feriti.
Sylvia è una giovane ragazza, allegra, bella e frivola che resta colpita da questo fatto e s’invaghisce perdutamente del ramponiere Charley Kinraid, l’eroe dell’accaduto, che, di ritorno dalla Groelandia, è rimasto ferito dopo essersi ostinatamente opposto alla cattura dell’equipaggio della nave dalla banda di coscrizione. La giovane Sylvia, però, è perdutamente amata dal serio e irreprensibile cugino Philip, che lei tratta con sprezzante freddezza.
L’amore tra Sylvia e Charley cresce e porta i due a fidanzarsi in segreto. Nel momento in cui Charley lascia la ragazza per andare ad imbarcarsi in una baleniera per una nuova stagione di caccia, è sorpreso sulla spiaggia da una banda di coscrizione che lo cattura e lo costringe ad arruolarsi. Unico testimone del fatto è Philip Hepburn, cui il ramponiere chiede di raccontare a Sylvia tutto ciò che ha visto e di assicurarle il suo immutato amore. Philip in cuor suo sa di non essere amato da Sylvia quanto la ama lui, e così accecato dalla gelosia e convinto della superficialità dell’uomo, decide di tacere, lasciando credere a tutti che Charley sia morto annegato. I mesi passano e le circostanze della vita avvicinano Sylvia a Phillip, ma la felicità conquistata con la menzogna non durerà a lungo e i nodi alla fine verranno al pettine…
È stato bello rincontrare dopo un bel po’ di tempo Elizabeth Gaskell, farsi prendere per mano ed essere trasportata dalla sua sublime penna all’interno di questo piacevole romanzo dove si sente il rumore del mare in sottofondo.
Più leggo i libri della Gaskell più mi convinco che ogni suo romanzo sia un mondo a sé, ognuno diverso dall’altro, ognuno bello e completo, ciascuno dei quali regala sempre qualcosa di diverso al lettore.
La scrittrice inglese con maestria riesce a raccontare in maniera appassionante e minuziosa uno spaccato storico inglese non molto conosciuto, la terribile usanza delle bande di coscrizione e la pratica della caccia alle balene.
L’ultimo decennio del diciottesimo secolo, infatti, è un periodo storico di grandi sconvolgimenti e anche in un paesino isolato e sperduto che vive della caccia alle balene, soffierà il vento della grande Storia.
Romanzo dalle atmosfere cupe e affascinanti, Gli innamorati di Sylvia è una storia intesa che coinvolge il lettore e gli regala emozioni forti, non sempre piacevoli.
La scrittura della Gaskell è sempre pregevole e limpida, ma la storia, dalla trama abbastanza semplice, non riesce ad ingranare e si trascina languidamente per poco più della metà del libro senza che nulla di sconvolgente o veramente interessante accada; nelle ultime duecento pagine, vi è un cambio di registro, la narrazione prende finalmente vigore e gli eventi si succedono uno dietro all’altro fino al tragico finale.
L’autrice inglese ritrae mirabilmente uno scenario affascinante in ogni suo dettaglio tanto da far immergere il lettore all’interno del libro, fargli sentire la brezza marina sferzargli il viso, il rumore delle onde che s’infrangono sulla scogliera assordargli le orecchie, passeggiare nella sterminata brughiera con i suoi colori e odori.
La trama, man mano che procede, abbandona il quadro storico per lasciare spazio alle vicende personali dei personaggi e soprattutto al dramma personale della protagonista.
Elizabeth Gaskell descrive bene i personaggi; ognuno ha le sue sfumature, nessuno dei personaggi da lei descritti è totalmente puro o innocente, o totalmente malvagio e terribile. Questa è una caratteristica della scrittrice che ho riscontrato anche in altri suoi libri.
In questo libro però alcuni personaggi sono effimeri, altri fuggevoli o affettati, altri poco accattivanti e un po’ antipatici ad iniziare dalla protagonista il cui nome dà il titolo al libro.
Fin dalla sua apparizione in scena Sylvia, mi ha suscitato parecchia antipatia e irritazione. L’immagine che il lettore ha di lei è di una ragazzina frivola, immatura, capricciosa, testarda, eccessivamente emotiva, volutamente ignorante, di carattere orgoglioso e ostinato. L’evolversi degli avvenimenti a lei infausti non producono la maturazione che ci aspetterebbe, infatti, il personaggio subisce un processo d’involuzione. La fanciulla garrula e spensierata lascia ben presto il posto, dopo il primo grande dolore che colpirà la sua vita, ad una donna passiva, accondiscendente e incurante di tutto, una sorta di marionetta in balia degli eventi e delle scelte altrui; nonostante tutto non perde i suoi difetti e non dimostra una maturità tale da avermi spinto a simpatizzare con lei nonostante le tragedie che la colpiscono. Ciò che mi ha dato più fastidio in lei è il suo comportamento nei confronti dei due uomini che concorrono a conquistare il suo cuore: con Charley (che reputo un po’ troppo frivolo) è tutta sognante e affascinata dai suoi racconti, con suo cugino Philip si comporta con freddezza a dir poco glaciale, in maniera odiosa e irritante.
Charley è uno dei personaggi più insipidi che abbia mai incontrato all’interno di un romanzo. Vanesio, donnaiolo, spavaldo e intrepido, possiedi modi brillanti e cortesi che affascinano le donne; dal punto di vista psicologico è descritto in maniera piatta, tanto da non incidere sul romanzo.
Ho trovato molto più interessante la figura di Philip Hepburn, che viene delineato in modo molti più interessante e approfondito tanto da far pensare che sia proprio lui il vero e proprio protagonista del romanzo; si scandagliano in profondità i suoi sentimenti, i suoi pensieri, i suoi stati d’animo e la sua vita. Philip non conquista al primo incontro: è un ragazzo rigido, tradizionalista, irreprensibile, introverso (tanto che non ama parlare di sé e dei sacrifici compiuti nel corso degli anni), pare essere privo di personalità. Elizabeth Gaskell però (è qui secondo me sta la sua bravura) pian piano esplora il suo animo e lo rende umano; ci racconta le sue aspirazioni, i suoi tormenti interiori, le sue paure, i suoi dubbi, i suoi compromessi con la propria coscienza, i suoi pensieri e le sue delusioni, riesce a dargli quello spessore che manca agli altri personaggi del romanzo, consentendo al lettore di conoscerlo, comprenderlo e apprezzare i suoi pregi e i suoi difetti.
Philip è colui a cui mi sono affezionata, per cui ho parteggiato, le cui sofferenze mi hanno stretto il cuore e alla fine commossa. È stato il solo che sia riuscito a trasmettermi qualcosa nonostante le sue azioni molto discutibili, le sue omissioni che pagherà caro e il suo amore incondizionato e a tratti abbastanza ossessivo per Sylvia, una donna intellettualmente e spiritualmente molto inferiore a lui.
Altra figura molto interessante e che mi è piaciuta tanto è Hester Rose, collega di Philip che lavora con lui nella bottega. Innamorata non corrisposta di Philip, è una donna straordinaria, ideale femminile di coerenza e di fedeltà a se stessi. Con la sua rassegnazione, il suo amore puro e non egoistico mi ha conquistata. Peccato sia una figura che la scrittrice inglese ha poco approfondito.
Il “personaggio”, però, predominante e maggiormente presente nel libro è il mare. La sua esistenza è quasi reale in ogni pagina; è una creatura quasi viva che accompagna con la sua presenza lo svolgersi della storia.
È nel mare che Sylvia trova la pace mentre lo contempla seduta sulla spiaggia, da cui fugge appena la vita borghese la soffoca; il mare metafora della vita umana, spesso tempestoso, con il suo mugghio profondo e incessante, elemento benevolo o malefico, foriero di prosperità o tragedie, che scandisce e influenza la vita degli abitanti di Monkshaven; luogo d’amore e di morte, dell’eterna lotta tra il bene e il male, luogo di redenzione o teatro d’imprese coraggiose.
In questo libro dall’accurata ricostruzione storica e dalle incantevoli descrizioni (che fanno sognare) dei paesaggi costieri, sono presenti molte delle caratteristiche e tematiche ricorrenti nei romanzi di Elizabeth Gaskell. Grazie ad uno stile molto scorrevole e coinvolgente, l’autrice ci racconta la storia degli ultimi, della gente comune, delle classi più povere grazie ad uno sfondo come sempre molto dettagliato.
Una delle tematiche che occupa un posto molto importante nello stile della Gaskell e che si può riscontrare in ogni suo romanzo, è l’aspetto religioso. L’autrice ha una moralità e un senso religioso molto forte e ciò influisce nella trama dei suoi romanzi. La religiosità in questo romanzo è intesa come un percorso lungo che inizia dal peccato, e attraverso il pentimento e l’espiazione, arriva finalmente alla salvezza. L’autrice inglese spesso infligge punizioni ai personaggi che sono migliori rispetto agli altri sia dal lato spirituale sia intellettuale (in questo caso Philip), costringendoli a pagare, talvolta, un prezzo troppo alto per il loro peccato.
Gli innamorati di Sylvia è un romanzo sospeso tra il respiro del mare e l’abbraccio della brughiera. Romanzo non solo storico dove piccole e grandi tragedie s’intrecciano per creare un affresco unico, ma anche un romanzo d’amore di cui sono descritte molte forme: l’amore possessivo, l’amore non corrisposto, l’amore ossessivo, l’amore assoluto ed esclusivo, l’amore corrisposto e infelice.
Un racconto sui sogni infranti, di promesse mancate, sull’impossibilità di saper perdonare che porta all’infelicità e al rimorso, sul peso delle parole dette, non dette, nascoste, rivelate, urlate, perché molto spesso le parole possono pesare più dei macigni e influenzare la vita delle persone come in questo libro.
[…] avrebbe portato fuori il lavoro a maglia per godersi la freschezza della lieve brezza marina, e scendendo una dopo l’altra le cenge affacciate sull’oceano azzurro, si sarebbe sistemata in quel cantuccio pericoloso che era sempre stato il suo rifugio da quando i genitori si erano stabiliti alla fattoria di Haytersbank. Da lì aveva spesso visto le navi lontane andare avanti e indietro, con una sorta di pigro piacere a osservare il loro moto tranquillo, ma senza alcuna preoccupazione a proposito di dove andassero, e di quali strani luoghi avrebbero attraversato prima di fare di nuovo rotta verso casa.
December 4, 2016
This story is set in the whaling community of Whitby during the French Revolutionary Wars, long before conservation became an issue. It involves the emotional tensions between Sylvia, the ex-seaman-smuggler turned farmer's daughter and her two admirers, her unexciting, devoted cousin Philip Hepburn and the dashing, handsome Specksioneer (Chief Harpooner) Charley Kinraid.
When Kinraid is injured trying to protect his fellow sailors from a press gang, he becomes Sylvia's hero. He is attracted to the pasionate young girl, and soon they start to fall in love, while Heputrn, who worships Sylvia, is in a state of jealous despair...
This is an intriguing read, not only because the historical background is well researched and the writing lively, but because everyone seems to interpret what the author was trying to accomplish differently.
I changed my original view after a fascinating discussion with another reviewer on Amazon. I had subscribed to the view of the critic TJ Winnifrith that 'Kinraid is finally shown to be a shallow character, but the portrayal of him is always so superficial that one finds it hard to understand the depths of Sylvia's love for him'.
I now think that in the 'cardboard' depiction of Kinraid, who is a swaggering, macho, fearless, hard drinking womanising type without any of those little weaknesses that endear a character to the reader is deliberate. Gaskell is possibly trying to posit him as comparatively unsympathetic. She may well have been trying to create a new type of hero (in line with one of her short stories, I think) in Philip Hepburn, who is not physical, can't drink, not dashing, and is only interested in Sylvia.
This protective love of Hepburn for Sylvia, this obsessive devotion,leads him to behave with miserable treachery. When Kinraid is press-ganged, and he begs Hepburn as sole witness to explain to Sylvia what has become of him, knowing Kinraid's reputation for fickleness, Hepburn persuades himself that the message is worthless, and keeps silent.
But Kinraid returns...
I didn't personally find Hepburn an attractive character, but I did feel sorry for him. Kinraid is too egotistical and successful to engage the reader's sympathy for long. In his later career as a Naval Officer, he would necessarily have colluded with the press gangs he once opposed to the point of murder in his confrontation with the press gang on board the'Good Fortune' as Naval Captains in the French Revolutionary Wars had to, and I am surprised that only a few critics comment on the shameless opportunism and self interest that this implies (Graham Handley is one in his excellent 'Sylvia's Lovers' Oxford Notes, 1968).
Some might argue that Charley Kinraid was right both to oppose the press gang when it operated illegally, and later to support its 'legal' use as a Captain himself. But as the writer of the 'Hornblower' novels points out, those rules were necessarily ignored, because it was impossible to raise enough men to form a crew if a Captain complied with them.
Personally, I think on balance he was quite right to fight it out with them on the first occasion, but should have tried to avoid killing them.
Sylvia is a silly, engaging, illiterate young girl who matures into a bitterly intense young women. I felt for her.
Whatever your interpretation you will find this an interesting read.
I wrote an article on this for the F word (I don't think I am allowed to link it here) and
in it, I had a go at summing up the book in a sentence; here it is:
'Philip Hepburn worships Sylvia Robson, and finds dishonour; Sylvia Robson worships Charley Kinraid, and finds disillusionment. Charley Kinraid worships himself, and finds an heiress who agree with him and a career in the Royal Navy.'
When Kinraid is injured trying to protect his fellow sailors from a press gang, he becomes Sylvia's hero. He is attracted to the pasionate young girl, and soon they start to fall in love, while Heputrn, who worships Sylvia, is in a state of jealous despair...
This is an intriguing read, not only because the historical background is well researched and the writing lively, but because everyone seems to interpret what the author was trying to accomplish differently.
I changed my original view after a fascinating discussion with another reviewer on Amazon. I had subscribed to the view of the critic TJ Winnifrith that 'Kinraid is finally shown to be a shallow character, but the portrayal of him is always so superficial that one finds it hard to understand the depths of Sylvia's love for him'.
I now think that in the 'cardboard' depiction of Kinraid, who is a swaggering, macho, fearless, hard drinking womanising type without any of those little weaknesses that endear a character to the reader is deliberate. Gaskell is possibly trying to posit him as comparatively unsympathetic. She may well have been trying to create a new type of hero (in line with one of her short stories, I think) in Philip Hepburn, who is not physical, can't drink, not dashing, and is only interested in Sylvia.
This protective love of Hepburn for Sylvia, this obsessive devotion,leads him to behave with miserable treachery. When Kinraid is press-ganged, and he begs Hepburn as sole witness to explain to Sylvia what has become of him, knowing Kinraid's reputation for fickleness, Hepburn persuades himself that the message is worthless, and keeps silent.
But Kinraid returns...
I didn't personally find Hepburn an attractive character, but I did feel sorry for him. Kinraid is too egotistical and successful to engage the reader's sympathy for long. In his later career as a Naval Officer, he would necessarily have colluded with the press gangs he once opposed to the point of murder in his confrontation with the press gang on board the'Good Fortune' as Naval Captains in the French Revolutionary Wars had to, and I am surprised that only a few critics comment on the shameless opportunism and self interest that this implies (Graham Handley is one in his excellent 'Sylvia's Lovers' Oxford Notes, 1968).
Some might argue that Charley Kinraid was right both to oppose the press gang when it operated illegally, and later to support its 'legal' use as a Captain himself. But as the writer of the 'Hornblower' novels points out, those rules were necessarily ignored, because it was impossible to raise enough men to form a crew if a Captain complied with them.
Personally, I think on balance he was quite right to fight it out with them on the first occasion, but should have tried to avoid killing them.
Sylvia is a silly, engaging, illiterate young girl who matures into a bitterly intense young women. I felt for her.
Whatever your interpretation you will find this an interesting read.
I wrote an article on this for the F word (I don't think I am allowed to link it here) and
in it, I had a go at summing up the book in a sentence; here it is:
'Philip Hepburn worships Sylvia Robson, and finds dishonour; Sylvia Robson worships Charley Kinraid, and finds disillusionment. Charley Kinraid worships himself, and finds an heiress who agree with him and a career in the Royal Navy.'
January 1, 2015
I listened to "Cousin Phyllis" earlier this year, so this book is an interesting contrast to it. Where Phyllis was educated and intelligent, Sylvia can barely read. She is content with her life on the farm, enjoys the open air and the animals and is not curious about life beyond this.
The book was good, but it irritated me as well. I didn't like any of the the male characters (unlike "Cousin Phyllis"). The choice of lovers Sylvia had was not so awesome, in my opinion. To me, neither one knew her, and their "love" was based on physical attraction rather than true regard. I was relieved to read her husband's moment of epiphany at the end, and think the book worthwhile for that and a lot of other uncomfortable things it brings up about relationships. Do marriage partners need to be of relatively equal intelligence to have a successful relationship? What is the basis for a lasting relationship - chemistry or character? Actually, it's funny, now that I think of it - I didn't like Sylvia either. EG kept me going even though I didn't like anyone! Credit where it's due.
The book was good, but it irritated me as well. I didn't like any of the the male characters (unlike "Cousin Phyllis"). The choice of lovers Sylvia had was not so awesome, in my opinion. To me, neither one knew her, and their "love" was based on physical attraction rather than true regard. I was relieved to read her husband's moment of epiphany at the end, and think the book worthwhile for that and a lot of other uncomfortable things it brings up about relationships. Do marriage partners need to be of relatively equal intelligence to have a successful relationship? What is the basis for a lasting relationship - chemistry or character? Actually, it's funny, now that I think of it - I didn't like Sylvia either. EG kept me going even though I didn't like anyone! Credit where it's due.
April 8, 2010
A fine example of the Classic English Novel. Slow-paced and well drawn, it takes its time weaving you into its spell... and then all of the sudden you realize you can't rest until you find out how the painful dilemma is solved. Heartbreaking and beautiful. I loved it.
July 12, 2024
Sylvia's Lovers (1863) is one of Elizabeth Gaskell's later novels, followed only by Cousin Phillis (1864) and my favorite work of hers, Wives and Daughters (1866). Sylvia's Lovers reflects a more mature and sophisticated writing style than her earlier works like Mary Barton, North and South, and Cranford.
The plot is fascinating and quite engaging. It is set during the mid-1790s in the small coastal whaling community of 'Monkshaven' modeled on Whitby that Gaskell visited in 1859. The novel takes place during the early years of the Napoleonic wars that consumed England, and much of the world, for the next twenty years.
This is a book about the working class of northern England, the simple folk that farmed, manned the shops, and went to sea in whaling ships season after season. England's war with France changes everything though; and we see these changes come to Monkshaven through the eyes of young Sylvia Robson, her father and mother, and her cousin Philip Hepburn. While there is a deep-seated patriotic fervor among the residents of Monkshaven, there is also a profound anger at the government for its use of impressment gangs (press gangs) to find able-bodied men to man the ships of the Royal Navy. Men were forcibly taken from their families and livelihoods, assigned to ships, and sailed off to war; from which many never returned.
Sylvia is an uneducated and relatively naive young woman more inclined to her flights of fancy rather than following the calm more steady influence of her mother. Sylvia's cousin, Philip, loves her with his heart and soul and endeavors to teach her to read, write, and to learn some arithmetic; but Sylvia only has eyes and feelings for her friend's cousin, the whaling harpooner, Charlie Kinraid. In large part, it is around this romantic triangle of Sylvia, Philip, and Charlie that the rest of the novel really turns.
This is a novel about justice, injustice, the consequences of one's actions (or inactions), and the notion of real redemption and forgiveness. In this novel, Elizabeth Gaskell has created some very realistic characters that make decisions that some of us might question, but feel right for the character. Some of these decisions lead to some terrible and final outcomes. Ultimately though, the circle is closed and the novel's protagonists find the right paths. While the novel might not have a 'fairy-tale happy ending,' it is a realistic and, in my opinion, appropriate ending. Gaskell herself said that Sylvia's Lovers was "the saddest story I ever wrote."
Another very important and interesting aspect of this novel is Gaskell's use of the vernacular and local dialect of the people she was writing about. In this case, her use of the dialect of Yorkshire in her character's dialogs give an incredibly gritty and earthy feel of authenticity to the novel; particularly the differences in speech between the educated and uneducated. I can also see how some readers could find this off-putting as it does take some 50-60 pages to become comfortable with the use of this local dialect. The Penguin Classics edition that I read has an excellent section of end-notes and an appendix that explains the Yorkshire dialect and defines many of the more obscure terms. Both, Gaskell, and her husband, William, were interested in local dialects, and she tried to accurately utilize local dialects in much of her fiction. I believe that English literature is that much richer for her efforts; as it is through her novels that we all gain a much clearer picture of the peoples and their ways of life in their own times.
In my opinion, this book is right up there with her last novel, Wives and Daughters. Sylvia's Lovers is beautifully plotted and written, and a novel that I highly recommend.
The plot is fascinating and quite engaging. It is set during the mid-1790s in the small coastal whaling community of 'Monkshaven' modeled on Whitby that Gaskell visited in 1859. The novel takes place during the early years of the Napoleonic wars that consumed England, and much of the world, for the next twenty years.
This is a book about the working class of northern England, the simple folk that farmed, manned the shops, and went to sea in whaling ships season after season. England's war with France changes everything though; and we see these changes come to Monkshaven through the eyes of young Sylvia Robson, her father and mother, and her cousin Philip Hepburn. While there is a deep-seated patriotic fervor among the residents of Monkshaven, there is also a profound anger at the government for its use of impressment gangs (press gangs) to find able-bodied men to man the ships of the Royal Navy. Men were forcibly taken from their families and livelihoods, assigned to ships, and sailed off to war; from which many never returned.
Sylvia is an uneducated and relatively naive young woman more inclined to her flights of fancy rather than following the calm more steady influence of her mother. Sylvia's cousin, Philip, loves her with his heart and soul and endeavors to teach her to read, write, and to learn some arithmetic; but Sylvia only has eyes and feelings for her friend's cousin, the whaling harpooner, Charlie Kinraid. In large part, it is around this romantic triangle of Sylvia, Philip, and Charlie that the rest of the novel really turns.
This is a novel about justice, injustice, the consequences of one's actions (or inactions), and the notion of real redemption and forgiveness. In this novel, Elizabeth Gaskell has created some very realistic characters that make decisions that some of us might question, but feel right for the character. Some of these decisions lead to some terrible and final outcomes. Ultimately though, the circle is closed and the novel's protagonists find the right paths. While the novel might not have a 'fairy-tale happy ending,' it is a realistic and, in my opinion, appropriate ending. Gaskell herself said that Sylvia's Lovers was "the saddest story I ever wrote."
Another very important and interesting aspect of this novel is Gaskell's use of the vernacular and local dialect of the people she was writing about. In this case, her use of the dialect of Yorkshire in her character's dialogs give an incredibly gritty and earthy feel of authenticity to the novel; particularly the differences in speech between the educated and uneducated. I can also see how some readers could find this off-putting as it does take some 50-60 pages to become comfortable with the use of this local dialect. The Penguin Classics edition that I read has an excellent section of end-notes and an appendix that explains the Yorkshire dialect and defines many of the more obscure terms. Both, Gaskell, and her husband, William, were interested in local dialects, and she tried to accurately utilize local dialects in much of her fiction. I believe that English literature is that much richer for her efforts; as it is through her novels that we all gain a much clearer picture of the peoples and their ways of life in their own times.
In my opinion, this book is right up there with her last novel, Wives and Daughters. Sylvia's Lovers is beautifully plotted and written, and a novel that I highly recommend.
December 16, 2024
Sylvia's Lovers written in 1863, is a novel written by English author Elizabeth Gaskell, which she called "the saddest story I ever wrote". In our book we have Sylvia Robson, an annoying, spoilt seventeen year old girl, that explains the annoying, whose parents run a farm outside the town and are well-off. Sylvia is loved by her cousin, another cousin in love book for me, Philip Hepburn, who works in a local shop. Her cousin can look forward to a good future in business because of his Quaker roots, but to Sylvia, he is dull. Sylvia meets and falls in love with Charlie Kinraid, a dashing sailor on a whaling vessel, and they become secretly engaged. And then one day Kinraid is kidnapped. It seems to be a thing that used to happen, here is a guy just doing what he always does, certainly nothing that should get him in any trouble when he is forcibly enlisted in the Royal Navy by a press gang, a scene witnessed by Philip. Finding this very strange I looked it up. Here is some of what I found:
Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of the British Royal Navy in the Age of Sail meant impressment was most commonly associated with Great Britain and Ireland. It was used by the Royal Navy in wartime, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice can be traced back to the time of Edward I of England. The Royal Navy impressed many merchant sailors, as well as some sailors from other, mostly European, nations. People liable to impressment were "eligible men of seafaring habits between the ages of 18 and 55 years". Non-seamen were sometimes impressed as well, though rarely. In addition to the Royal Navy's use of impressment, the British Army also experimented with impressment from 1778 to 1780.
Impressment was strongly criticized by those who believed it to be contrary to the British constitution. Though the public opposed conscription in general, impressment was repeatedly upheld by the courts, as it was deemed vital to the strength of the navy and, by extension, to the survival of the British realm and influence.
Impressment was essentially a Royal Navy practice, reflecting the sheer size of the British fleet and its substantial manpower demands. While other European navies applied forced recruitment in times of war, this was generally done as an extension of the practice of formal conscription applied by most European armies from the Napoleonic Wars on. The U.S. Continental Navy also applied a form of impressment during the American War of Independence.
So Charlie Kinraid is now in the navy, whether he wants to be or not, but Philip does not tell Sylvia of the incident nor relay to her Charlie's parting message asking her to wait for him and, believing her lover is dead, Sylvia eventually marries her cousin. According to Philip, the reason he never tells Sylvia any of this is because there were rumors of Kinraid being a womanizer with a fickle heart, and he feels if he passed on the message she would wait years for someone who might not come back, or if he does he would have forgotten her by then. That's what he says anyway.
But Charlie does come back. Now what is he going to do? I'm not telling any more of the story, but it just may be the saddest story she ever wrote.
Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of the British Royal Navy in the Age of Sail meant impressment was most commonly associated with Great Britain and Ireland. It was used by the Royal Navy in wartime, beginning in 1664 and during the 18th and early 19th centuries as a means of crewing warships, although legal sanction for the practice can be traced back to the time of Edward I of England. The Royal Navy impressed many merchant sailors, as well as some sailors from other, mostly European, nations. People liable to impressment were "eligible men of seafaring habits between the ages of 18 and 55 years". Non-seamen were sometimes impressed as well, though rarely. In addition to the Royal Navy's use of impressment, the British Army also experimented with impressment from 1778 to 1780.
Impressment was strongly criticized by those who believed it to be contrary to the British constitution. Though the public opposed conscription in general, impressment was repeatedly upheld by the courts, as it was deemed vital to the strength of the navy and, by extension, to the survival of the British realm and influence.
Impressment was essentially a Royal Navy practice, reflecting the sheer size of the British fleet and its substantial manpower demands. While other European navies applied forced recruitment in times of war, this was generally done as an extension of the practice of formal conscription applied by most European armies from the Napoleonic Wars on. The U.S. Continental Navy also applied a form of impressment during the American War of Independence.
So Charlie Kinraid is now in the navy, whether he wants to be or not, but Philip does not tell Sylvia of the incident nor relay to her Charlie's parting message asking her to wait for him and, believing her lover is dead, Sylvia eventually marries her cousin. According to Philip, the reason he never tells Sylvia any of this is because there were rumors of Kinraid being a womanizer with a fickle heart, and he feels if he passed on the message she would wait years for someone who might not come back, or if he does he would have forgotten her by then. That's what he says anyway.
But Charlie does come back. Now what is he going to do? I'm not telling any more of the story, but it just may be the saddest story she ever wrote.
February 11, 2021
Sylvia, a young woman from a poor farming background in coastal Yorkshire in the late 18th century is wooed by two very different men-Philip, the well-educated and gentle shopkeeper, and Charley, the handsome whaler. The choices each of them makes have long-lasting repercussions for themselves and for the greater community. Gaskell provides a glimpse into the lives lived in a rural community at the time and writes movingly of the hopes and struggles of Sylvia and of those nearest to her.
June 10, 2025
This was undeniably a sad novel. Is it a moral tale or a sentimental story with a melodramatic edge?
The melodramatic aspect is certainly present, but can Elisabeth Gaskell be criticised for knitting together a well-executed plot with the help of some effective narrative stratagems and sublime stylistic orchestration?
We can easily forgive her some judicious but plausible coincidences. We will gladly overlook a few chronological discrepancies, whether in terms of historical time, which is nonetheless respected in the case of the Siege of Acre in 1799, or the more questionable time taken to walk from Monkshaven to Haytersbank Farm.
The emotion is strong, and there are a few coups de théâtre, but isn't this story itself dramatic in all its implications?
The originality of the founding element of the plot, Kinraid's disappearance before Philip's very eyes in a magnificent Chapter 18, is to be commended. Philip's mortifying silence, resolved to say nothing, even though he knew that a single word from him would have freed Sylvia from that indefinable state of stupor where grief and resignation follow on from anguish.
Philip refused Sylvia that word of life.
But on the brink of death, he begs her for another word of life, her forgiveness, a plea that echoes the words of the Centurion in the Gospel: "I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But say the word, and let my servant be healed" (Luke 7:6-7, or Matthew 8:8).
"But speak one word of love to me--one little word, that I may know I have thy pardon." (Chapter 45)
Elizabeth Gaskell is definitely a storyteller.
She knows how to describe the storm, the wind and the rain, the sound of the waves on the shore, the ships anchored offshore, the farm, the work, the days and the seasons. But she also knows how to describe the scents and overwhelming heat of the Holy Land, the fiery sun that lights up Kinraid's face as he lies on the ground.
She knows how to convey the full horror of war, the timeless horror of all conflicts, and provides an interesting and poignant account of what the inhabitants of the coastal towns endured at a time of mobilisation and forced conscription.
Unlike Ruth, whose characters were sometimes monolithic, the main protagonists of Sylvia's Lovers are not cut from a single cloth.
Sylvia swaps the red clothes of a whimsical young girl for the black colour of eternal mourning, while at the same time Philip sheds his austere costumes of a cautious, puritanical young man and, against all odds, dons the scarlet-jacketed uniform of the marines and, dressed in courage and self-sacrifice, saves the man he hated to death in the battlefield.
If Sylvia is the heroine of the title, and Kinraid often said to be a "cardboard hero", Philip is, perhaps in spite of himself, the real hero of this terrible story. He is the most complete character, the one the reader comes closest to, as the narrator gives us the keys and explores all the twists and turns of his psyche. By turns miserable, uninteresting, hateful, he emerges, in the midst of his suffering - and not just from his voluntary disappearance - as probably the most endearing character, because he is so close to us, in the reality of our lives.
It is precisely through his senseless and mortifying silence, and then through the shattering revelation of the truth, that Philip allows Sylvia to grow up, to become a real adult. If the outcome of the novel seems tragic and heartbreaking, could it really have been otherwise in the measured time given to the two spouses to forgive each other?
The melodramatic aspect is certainly present, but can Elisabeth Gaskell be criticised for knitting together a well-executed plot with the help of some effective narrative stratagems and sublime stylistic orchestration?
We can easily forgive her some judicious but plausible coincidences. We will gladly overlook a few chronological discrepancies, whether in terms of historical time, which is nonetheless respected in the case of the Siege of Acre in 1799, or the more questionable time taken to walk from Monkshaven to Haytersbank Farm.
The emotion is strong, and there are a few coups de théâtre, but isn't this story itself dramatic in all its implications?
The originality of the founding element of the plot, Kinraid's disappearance before Philip's very eyes in a magnificent Chapter 18, is to be commended. Philip's mortifying silence, resolved to say nothing, even though he knew that a single word from him would have freed Sylvia from that indefinable state of stupor where grief and resignation follow on from anguish.
Philip refused Sylvia that word of life.
But on the brink of death, he begs her for another word of life, her forgiveness, a plea that echoes the words of the Centurion in the Gospel: "I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. But say the word, and let my servant be healed" (Luke 7:6-7, or Matthew 8:8).
"But speak one word of love to me--one little word, that I may know I have thy pardon." (Chapter 45)
Elizabeth Gaskell is definitely a storyteller.
She knows how to describe the storm, the wind and the rain, the sound of the waves on the shore, the ships anchored offshore, the farm, the work, the days and the seasons. But she also knows how to describe the scents and overwhelming heat of the Holy Land, the fiery sun that lights up Kinraid's face as he lies on the ground.
She knows how to convey the full horror of war, the timeless horror of all conflicts, and provides an interesting and poignant account of what the inhabitants of the coastal towns endured at a time of mobilisation and forced conscription.
Unlike Ruth, whose characters were sometimes monolithic, the main protagonists of Sylvia's Lovers are not cut from a single cloth.
Sylvia swaps the red clothes of a whimsical young girl for the black colour of eternal mourning, while at the same time Philip sheds his austere costumes of a cautious, puritanical young man and, against all odds, dons the scarlet-jacketed uniform of the marines and, dressed in courage and self-sacrifice, saves the man he hated to death in the battlefield.
If Sylvia is the heroine of the title, and Kinraid often said to be a "cardboard hero", Philip is, perhaps in spite of himself, the real hero of this terrible story. He is the most complete character, the one the reader comes closest to, as the narrator gives us the keys and explores all the twists and turns of his psyche. By turns miserable, uninteresting, hateful, he emerges, in the midst of his suffering - and not just from his voluntary disappearance - as probably the most endearing character, because he is so close to us, in the reality of our lives.
It is precisely through his senseless and mortifying silence, and then through the shattering revelation of the truth, that Philip allows Sylvia to grow up, to become a real adult. If the outcome of the novel seems tragic and heartbreaking, could it really have been otherwise in the measured time given to the two spouses to forgive each other?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 11, 2020
“Indeed, all along the coast of Yorkshire, it seemed as if a blight hung over the land and the people.”
’Sylvia's Lovers’ is set during the time of the Anglo-French War (1778-1783). At this time so-called "press gangs" would frequently kidnap men to cart them off to war. They would lie in wait for the whaling ships returning from Greenland, and then many of these men who had finally just about made it back home would be hauled off, leaving many a weeping loved one on the shore. “Men were kidnapped, literally disappeared, and nothing was ever heard of them again.”
The young, beautiful Sylvia, “captious, capricious, wilful, haughty, merry, charming”, is admired by all and sundry, but loved by two men: the dashing Charley Kinraid, popular with the ladies, and Sylvia's cousin Philip Hepburn who had long carried a torch for her. One of these men would be kidnapped; the other would stay behind with a guilty secret and continue to woo the beautiful Sylvia.
A thread of unrequited and/or thwarted love runs through the novel. Two men love Sylvia, but she loves only one of them. The quiet, hardworking Hester loves Philip, but we already know that his attention is elsewhere. Philip's colleague Coulson loves Hester, but… Philip and Coulson's employer John loved Hester's mother Alice, but she married someone else. Bessy Corney loves Kinraid, but… To reinforce the theme Elizabeth Gaskell also alludes to the biblical “Jacob's twice seven years' service for Rachel” as well as Goethe's 'The Sorrows of Werther'. I haven't read the latter, but as an opera lover I am very familiar with Massenet's opera 'Werther' in which Werther is besotted with Charlotte who marries another. All of this longing for what one cannot have inevitably leads to heartache and tragedy. When one of Sylvia's admirers thinks that he finally gets what he wants, he doesn't actually get what he wants.
Ultimately this is also a tale of forgiveness and redemption. The young Sylvia will learn a great deal from her experiences through these years and will come to reflect on her earlier words: “’It's not in me to forgive; I sometimes think it's not in me to forget.’”
Author Elizabeth Gaskell has a nifty trick of making the more unlikeable characters likeable and those that one might normally like better, like less. This is what I mean: Sylvia is capricious and not always very nice at all, yet she is loved by many and the reader gets to love her too; Hester who has many good qualities becomes mere wallpaper in the background; Philip who does so many good things appears unlikeable, and Kinraid who is rumoured to be a cad is a hero. All topsy-turvy.
This novel is sentimental. It is melodramatic. It tugs at the heartstrings and might make one reach for some tissues. But it is a very good snapshot of that time and place. Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865) was a near contemporary and these events will still have been fresh in people's memory. She writes beautifully, but she also includes Yorkshire dialect from that period which adds a small but not insurmountable challenge to the reader. There are also twists, turns and unlikely coincidences.
#####
“But for twenty miles inland there was no forgetting the sea, nor the sea-trade; refuse shell-fish, seaweed, the offal of the melting-houses, were the staple manure of the district; great ghastly whale-jaws, bleached bare and white, were the arches over the gate-posts to many a field or moorland stretch."
"T' lass upstairs 'll like nought better than t' curl hersel' round a secret, and purr o'er it, just as t' oud cat does o'er her blind kitten."
"And then the dread Inner Creature, who lurks in each of our hearts, arose and said, 'It is as well: a promise given is a fetter to the giver. But a promise is not given when it has not been received.'"
"Then he went on to wonder if the lives of one generation were but a repetition of the lives of those who had gone before, with no variation but from the internal cause that some had greater capacity for suffering than others. Would those very circumstances which made the interest of his life now, return, in due cycle, when he was dead and Sylvia was forgotten?"
"She had not gone a yard—no, not half a yard—when her heart leaped up and fell again dead within her, as if she had been shot."
"Them as one thinks t' most on, forgets one soonest.”
February 14, 2021
The story held my attention throughout and I had to find out how it ended. Indeed, it reminded me too of Hardy, especially The Mayor of Casterbridge. As a realistic portrayal of a bleak world with no second chances, I felt the resolution appropriate. If I’d been Philip, I expect I’d have stayed at the alms house and read Peregrine Pickle. One of Smollett’s heroes would have had no qualms about sending his rival in love to the devil, much less the navy. In that sense, Sylvia’s Lovers is a very Victorian take on the 18th century.
Aristotle specified in the Poetics that the best sort of tragic hero was an otherwise good man who committed a ‘hamartia’ which led to his downfall. I thought notion fits Philip quite well. Scholars argue about the meaning of ‘hamartia’, which in Greek can cover the whole range from pardonable mistakes to serious crimes. (In Jewish and Christian Greek used to translate the Hebrew word for ‘sin’ as well.) Whether Philip’s silence regarding Charley’s impressment was morally reprehensible may be open to question, but sufficiently ambiguous to give Philip grounds to quiet his conscience at the time. From the outcome though, it was definitely an error. Charley’s return destroyed his marriage. So as a tragedy, Sylvia’s Lovers works.
But I did not find the novel a classic. A true classic is universal; it should exemplify the values of its own time and the concerns of future generations too. Though these days the Riot Act has a certain contemporary relevance, I doubt the press gang was still an issue in Gaskell’s day, much less in ours. (I can image a 20th century version of the story set in an American college, where Sylvia’s a cheerleader, Philip a nerd, and Charley an athlete who gets drafted and sent to Vietnam.) I quite liked the regional dialect, just as I do with Robert Burns and Mark Twain, but then I’ve read Beowulf in the original and love the way Yorkshire preserves older English forms. It amuses me how contemporary English people ridicule us Yanks for saying ‘gotten’- notice how Yorkshire also features ‘getten’.
Aristotle specified in the Poetics that the best sort of tragic hero was an otherwise good man who committed a ‘hamartia’ which led to his downfall. I thought notion fits Philip quite well. Scholars argue about the meaning of ‘hamartia’, which in Greek can cover the whole range from pardonable mistakes to serious crimes. (In Jewish and Christian Greek used to translate the Hebrew word for ‘sin’ as well.) Whether Philip’s silence regarding Charley’s impressment was morally reprehensible may be open to question, but sufficiently ambiguous to give Philip grounds to quiet his conscience at the time. From the outcome though, it was definitely an error. Charley’s return destroyed his marriage. So as a tragedy, Sylvia’s Lovers works.
But I did not find the novel a classic. A true classic is universal; it should exemplify the values of its own time and the concerns of future generations too. Though these days the Riot Act has a certain contemporary relevance, I doubt the press gang was still an issue in Gaskell’s day, much less in ours. (I can image a 20th century version of the story set in an American college, where Sylvia’s a cheerleader, Philip a nerd, and Charley an athlete who gets drafted and sent to Vietnam.) I quite liked the regional dialect, just as I do with Robert Burns and Mark Twain, but then I’ve read Beowulf in the original and love the way Yorkshire preserves older English forms. It amuses me how contemporary English people ridicule us Yanks for saying ‘gotten’- notice how Yorkshire also features ‘getten’.
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